


The Words I Cannot Speak

by fineandwittie



Series: Shattered Hearts, Twisted Mirrors [1]
Category: The Avengers (2012)
Genre: FrostIron - Freeform, Graphic Description, M/M, Norse Mythology - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-09
Updated: 2012-06-09
Packaged: 2017-11-07 09:24:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 26,585
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/429435
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fineandwittie/pseuds/fineandwittie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Loki’s punishment has been dealt and he has been imprisoned, but somehow he manages to escape and ends up on Tony’s floor. Tony, who has been trying to solve the magic puzzle since Loki and Thor vanished so many months ago, does not approve of what happened to Loki. Tony sees in the other a twisted reflection of his own heart.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Still Unbeta'd at the moment. Originally posted on tumblr. My first Avengers fic. I'd love to hear what you think! :D
> 
> I own nothing. Don't sue me. If i owned this would I be writing fanfiction? i highly doubt it.

“I don’t think I’ll ever understand this.” Steve Rogers said with a sigh. He shook his head as his eyes followed Tony Stark’s movements through the glass window of his workshop.

Bruce Banner offered an half-smile. “It’s a puzzle, Steve. It’s a really dark, twisted puzzle and Tony wants to take it apart and see how it fits back together.”

The music was pounding such a deep base, the two men could feel it through their shoes. Tony was oblivious to the conversation going on just outside he workshop. He eyes ran over the numbers and images floating around him, trying to see a pattern. Something that could give him the keystone.

“A puzzle? I’ve seen Tony with puzzles, Bruce. They last a few hours, a few days at most. If he can’t solve them, which we all know is an incredibly rare occasion, he throws them away. This has been months. Bruce, he’s obsessed with trying to piece this all together.” Steve sighed again. “I knew we shouldn’t have let him go ask Loki about his magic before we put the muzzle on him.”

Bruce shrugged. “You know how well that would have worked. No, this is a puzzle, but it’s like science. Tony Stark is a genius, not just at engineering. There is a reason he is where he is, Steve. I know you don’t understand most of what he says. I don’t really understand about half of the stuff he talks about when he really gets going. He absorbs information like a sponge. Magic, this obsession he’s developed, it’s like a branch of science that he can only see little bits of and he has to be driving him crazy. He’s looking for the piece, the one tidbit of information, that will make it all fall into place.”

The two turned away from the workshop and went back downstairs. Stark Tower had been re-built and re-named. Avenger’s Tower looked much the same as it had in its previous life, except now each Avenger had their own floor. Tony had the topmost parts, the last full floor, and all the little ones for his equipment. His workshop was currently at the top of the top. The highest space inside the tower. Tony spun to reach for his Starkphone, but too late to see the other two leave. He continued working, ignorant of their discussion, which, though they didn’t know it, was not entirely true. Tony was attempting to solve this puzzle, but it was more than that. So much more. Tony felt that if he could just unlock the magic that drove Loki, the Tesseract and Loki’s own magic, he could figure out what had gone wrong inside the Asgardian Prince’s head. He’d read all the myths and he tried speaking to Thor about it, but that gave him very little. Thor’s view of what had happened was lopsided and clearly skewed, even Tony could see that without knowing Loki’s side of things. He wanted to know. He needed to know, because he saw too much of himself in the other. It was like looking into the mirror. Loki clearly had similar Daddy Issues to Tony’s own, not that Tony was even going to touch that topic with a ten-foot pole. He’d been an outsider; he was broken. Tony wanted to know why and how, because maybe he could fix Loki and if he could fix Loki, well…then maybe he could fix himself. 

His phone buzzed as he reached for it and he saw a message from Pepper, who’d gone back to being…well, whatever she was before they’d kissed on that rooftop only more relaxed about it. Tony sighed. He had commitment issues the size of Everest, but he’d been willing to try, for Pepper. Pepper, on the other hand, had not been willing to put up with his bullshit or his work with the Avengers. She said it was too much for her nerves and she would have a breakdown. So they’d broken up. It hurt somewhere deep in his chest that even Pepper had given up on him, but he pushed it down. He moved to bring up the text she’d sent, but a blinding flash of green light flooded the room and he froze. 

“JARVIS? Don’t sound the alarm on this. Thanks.” Tony muttered when he saw what had appeared on the floor of his workroom.

“Of course, sir, Alarm signal aborted.”

“You’re a pal, Jarv.” Tony stood and moved cautiously toward the broad expanse of naked skin. The thing on his floor was a man. A tall, pale man with long black hair who was also completely nude and dripping blood from…his mouth? 

Tony called for one of his AIs to bring a blanket or a robe. The man, Loki! Tony realized with a start, attempted to rise, to push himself up off the ground, but failed and collapsed back as his arm gave out. He turned his head enough so that Tony could see his face.

“Holy fucking shit!”

Loki’s lips were oozing blood where someone has obviously sewn them together. Tony was by his side in a moment, fumbling for the nearest sharp object. Loki’s eyes were wide with terror and he jerked, attempting to loose himself from Tony’s grasp. 

“Hey, shh. It’s fine. I’m going to cut the thread, okay? The person who did this to you should be shot. In the face. And them revived and shot again. In the nuts. You obviously ran into a sick fucker, Reindeer Games.”

The terror receded, replaced by confusion. Tony slowly raised the small razor blade that he’d snagged from the workbench. Being careful to move the stitches a little as possible, he passed the blade through the thread. In a moment, Loki’s lips parted and he gasped a loud shaky breath. His entire body was shuddering and he curled in on himself. Tony’s hands weren’t exactly steady themselves, when he draped the newly proffered blanket over the Norse God’s shoulders.

“Loki, can you speak? Who did this?”

Tony was kneeling in front of Loki, his hands rest on his shoulders as the engineer peered into the other’s face.

His voice was rusty with disuse and hoarse, but he managed to grate out one word. “Thor.”

Tony blinked and jerked back as if he’d been slapped. Loki was still shuddering and his mouth bled more freely as he tried to pull the threads free. Tony stood and stepped back. He turned and made his way to the door.

“Jarvis, call Pepper, would you?” There was a strangled noise from behind him. “Tell her I need antiseptic, tweezers, liquid bandages, and alcohol, the non-drinkable kind. Also some kind of painkiller. Have her leave it downstairs. No one gets up here. Not a single person, do you hear me? I don’t care who it is or what kind of security clearance they have. Not Nick Fury, not even Pepper. Someone tries, you lock down. Everything. You understand me, Jarvis?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good. Oh, and Loki?” He turned back to the god curled into a ball on his floor. “Stop trying to pluck out the thread. I imagine it hurts like a fuck, but if you don’t do it properly, it’ll scar. I’ll do it for you when Pepper comes with the medical supplies, yeah? For now, try and relax as much as you can. I’ll be back.”

Loki blinked, his vision hazy and tried to nod. He wasn’t sure if he managed it before he lost consciousness. 

Tony sighed and went in search of the other resident God.


	2. Chapter 2

Thor was in the common room that they used for group meetings. He was drinking a beer and failing to understand how the remote for the television worked. 

Tony had never been so angry in his entire life. Not when the Ten Rings were waterboarding him, not when Obadiah betrayed him, not when his father had failed to attend anything he ever did, never. He grabbed the Thunder God’s beer and hurled it against the wall, then turned to grab Thor by the collar of the blue t-shirt he wore. “You, my friend, are a disgusting excuse for a human being. Regardless of the fact that you technically aren’t one. You make me sick, do you know that? Literally nauseas. Especially since you claim to be working for the good guys. You think you’re a hero.”

Thor was flabbergasted to such an extreme that he allowed himself to be manhandled. Tony was half a foot shorter or so and at least thirty pound lighter even with the arc reactor in his chest, but he heaved the God to his feet and shoved him back against the nearest wall. “What the fuck do you have to say for yourself?”

“Man of Iron, I do not know what I have done to offend you thusly, but—“

“You don’t know what you’ve done? Really? Maybe sewing another person’s mouth shut? Does that ring any fucking bells, you fucker? There are laws in the United States that call that cruel and unusual punishment, but apparently Gods know better! How the fuck could you treat another person like that and then have the unmitigated gall to call the same person your brother!”

Thor was frowning now. “You are angry with the punishment that I inflicted upon Loki for his actions?”

“Give the fuckwit a medal. He’s finally caught on.”

“Tony Stark, you are not Asgardian. You do not understand our justice and—“

“That is a bullshit answer. That is not justice. What you did to Loki is torture, straight up and believe me, Thor, I know torture when I see it. I was in captivity for three fucking months. You do not sew someone’s mouth shut. Especially if that person is a member of your own fucking family.”

“Tony Stark, I did not—“

“I don’t care what you did and did not do. You held the needle and you pulled the fucking needle through Loki’s skin. What would have happened if he vomited? I don’t care if Odin gave you an order. He is your brother and Odin is his father. You are fucked up. If you actually loved him or cared for him even a little. If you respected him as a living being, you would have refused. Or helped him escape. Or tried to change Odin’s mind. Did you do any of that?”

Thor was scowling now. “The Allfather is all knowing and wise. He said that that was the punishment befitting of Loki’s crime and thus it must be true.”

“Get out.”

“Tony Stark, you cannot—“

“Oh yeah? Fucking watch me. I don’t want you living here. I don’t want you hanging around here. I’m not sure I even want you allowed to attend meetings here. And guess the fuck what? It’s my building. So get the fuck out.”

“Man of Iron—“

Tony got right into his face and something in the engineer’s eyes reminded Thor so sharply of Loki at his most dangerous that Thor pressed himself against the wall. There was bravery and then there was stupidity. Thor had learned the difference in his time on Earth. “Do. Not. Make me. Repeat myself.”

Thor nodded. Tony stepped back and snarled, “Now.”

Thor called Mjolnir and disappeared into the elevator. Tony was breathing heavily and staring at the place Thor had been. When Steve placed a hand hesitantly on his shoulder, he snarled and spun, before deflating and dropping into the nearest chair.

“Tony, what was that?”

“Steve…” Tony’s voice was quietly, almost broken. “He’s a monster. Thor is a heartless sack of shit.”

Steve frowned. “What did he do?”

Tony shook his head. “Jarvis?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Everything ok?”

“Yes, sir. Everything appears to be stable. Ms. Potts has just arrived in the building. She is entered the elevators now. Shall I inform her of your whereabouts?”

“Excellent. Thank you, Jarvis, please do.” He turned back to Steve. “Not my story to tell, Cap. I’m sorry. But…I will not have him in my building. Hear that Jarvis? Thor is not to be allowed in again. I don’t care how much Fury attempts to override your systems. Set up a failsafe. If anyone, but me, attempts to allow Thor back into this building, I want a complete shut down. No one in or out. All systems go down completely. Pull the plug, my friend.”

“Yes, sir. It’s already done, sir.”

“Thank you, Jarvis.”

Steve’s eyes were wide. “Tony, you’re beginning to worry me. What’s going on?”

“Like I said, Cap. Not mine to say. Maybe—“

The elevator pinged and Pepper came rushing out. “Tony, dear god, are you alright? I saw Thor leaving and he looked…er…thunderous seems an ironic term. He didn’t…you aren’t…Is everything alright? Are you hurt?”

Steve turned to gap at Tony, horror in his eyes, which dropped to run over Tony’s body for visible injury. 

“Pepper, I’m fine. A bit sick to my stomach, but that can’t be helped. Did you bring what I asked for?”

Pepper raised a brow at him. “Of course.” She offered him a bag. “Are you sure you’re alright?” She eyed the bag, worriedly. 

Tony peeked in and nodded in grim satisfaction. “Good. I’m putting the upper rooms, meaning my quarters and workshop in lock down. No one is going to be allowed in for the next several hours at least. Sometime tomorrow I’ll need people able to clean dried blood from the flooring, clothing, and blankets.”

So saying, he slid into the elevator and shut the doors, leaving Steve and Pepper gaping in horror behind him.


	3. Chapter 3

Loki was exactly where Tony had left him, only now the shudders had turned to shivers. Tony wondered vaguely if the god was going into shock…and then whether or no gods could go into shock at all. He shrugged it off and knelt beside him.

“Loki?” He shook the taller man’s shoulder, but he did not stir. “Probably for the best. Conscious, this would hurt like a bitch.”

Pulling materials from the bag, he cleaned the blood away and gently washed the area with antiseptic. At least one of the puncture marks looked angry and inflamed. Tony cursed quietly and began gently to remove the thread he’d cut earlier. 

It took Tony over an hour to remove all the bits of things embedded in the wounds, thread included, and to bandage it properly. He gave the Norse god a once over, to make sure he wasn’t sporting any other serious injuries. There was a lot of bruising, only some of which looked fresh, but nothing else. Standing, he looked down at Loki’s naked form, barely covered by the blanket and shook his head. “Tony, you idiot, it’s not shock. He’s got to be freezing.” He muttered to himself.

Debating with himself, Tony finally reached down and pulled the taller man up over one shoulder in a fireman pose. He moved across the workshop and laid him down on a couch the workaholic sometimes fell asleep on. He retrieved a pair of overlarge sweatpants and put them on Loki. The waist was a little big, but they were at least long enough. He found a fresh blanket and draped it over him. 

That done, he went to his workbench and began tinkering with the new design he was working on for suit modifications. 

Tony barely noticed that five hours had passed before there was movement from the couch. The quiet hiss of skin across leather broke his concentration. Tony looked up with a jerk and sighed in relief. “Oh good. You’re awake. I fixed your mouth the best I could. I’m no doctor, but I think it should heal up just fine. I wouldn’t pick at it and I’d try to move your lips at little as possible, but I imagine you want to talk now that you can again.”

Loki was frowning at him, sitting totally still on the couch. He glanced down at himself and then back up. “My magic was bound by the thread keeping my mouth shut. You have enabled it to return to me. Why?” His voice was just as hoarse as before. 

Tony stood and got him a glass of water. He pulled his chair over and sat in front of the god. Loki drank it in one long pull. “I can’t say that I knew that’s what I was doing. But what happened to you was…well, fuck. I’m not even sure what I’d call it. Unacceptable is a mild start.”

“Tony Stark, I threw you through a window. I invaded your world with an alien army. I do not deserve your good will or charity. You should not be treating me so well...”

Tony shrugged. “I’ve never been one for doing what I should. If it makes you feel better, you do have something that I want.”

Loki’s brow furrowed. “My magic will not be viable for at least a week. I have nothing, but…” He glanced down at himself.

Tony frowned for a moment at the gesture before his eyes went wide. “Woah there, Rock of Ages! I may have a bit of a reputation, but I would never stoop so low.”

Loki’s eyes dropped to the floor and his already pale face went chalky. “Of course.”

This did not fit with what Tony had seen of the Norse god so far. Oh he of incredible ego. He scowled. What had happened to Loki? “I don’t trade things for sex. If I want sex, I go find someone willing. I do not demand things in return. Ever. It has nothing to do with whether or not I find you attractive. Which, by the way? You are.” Loki was staring at him again. “You have magic…or you will very soon. Which means, more importantly, you have knowledge about magic. I want to understand how it works.”

Loki’s eyes widened. “What?”

“Magic. You understand how it works, if your-if Thor’s information is reliable. And telling me that you are the most knowledgeable Asgardian in regards to magic made him look like he’d swallowed a whole bag of lemons, so I’m guessing it’s true.” Loki huffed a breath of air through his nose. Tony continued. “I want to know. I’ve been trying to figure it out on my own, but there are too many variables. I don’t have enough information. You do. Teach me and we’re square.” Loki did not appear to understand the slang. “Er…we’re even…or, um, any debt you think you owe me would be paid.”

Loki nodded. “You would exchange your good treatment for my knowledge.”

Tony shook his head. “No. You get that anyway. In fact, if you want, you can leave right now for wherever and that’ll be that. But I’d like to know. Although, I’d appreciate it, if you didn’t…you know, try to takeover the world.”

Loki was frowning again, confusion in his eyes. “Stark…I don’t…”

Tony threw up his hands in surrender. “Hey, maybe in Asgard, you treat prisoners like shit. And maybe you guys think it’s fine to sew a person’s mouth shut, but there are laws against that kind of thing here. It’s called cruel and unusual punishment and it’s illegal. It’s also wrong. So, I don’t care what you’ve done…okay, well not entirely true. I think it was balls what you did. And a lot of people got killed because of you. And if you ever throw me out a window again, I’m gonna be really pissed.” Loki raised an eyebrow at that.

Tony smirked. “Hey, you want to see what pissed looks like? You haven’t yet, but let me show you some video footage. Jarvis?”

“Sir.”

“Bring up the CCTV footage from the Avengers lounge from earlier today. When Thor left.”

Loki flinched. “Why did my brother leave? Does he know that I am here?”

Tony grinned savagely. “You’ll see. And no. No one knows you’re here, but me.”

“Here is the footage, sir. Enjoy.”

Tony turned to the screen, his expression unchanged. “Oh I will, Jarvis. I will.”

Loki was literally gaping at the projection of the footage, by the time Thor fled to the elevator. Tony shut it down after that and turned back to the god. “That is why Thor left. He will not come back. Anyone tries to let him in and this entire building goes into lockdown mode. No one can hack my system when it’s in lockdown. I’m the best. Thor is not getting back in here.”  
If the situation wasn’t what it was, Tony would have burst out laughing at the expression on Loki’s face. As it is, he suppressed a smile as Loki sputtered, “But, you…He…I don’t…why would you…?”

Tony did laugh then, earning a scowl from Loki. “Apparently the people of Asgard don’t understand the concept of basic...er…well, technically you aren’t human, so let’s go with inherent dignity. No one has the right to treat you like that, Loki. I don’t care what you’ve done. Directly, you killed one person here on earth. Indirectly, you brought about the deaths of too many more. I don’t know why you led an alien army into Earth, but I’m going to withhold some of my judgment on that until I get all the details, if I ever do. I’ve seen the surveillance footage from the event you crashed. You did not look sane, Reindeer Games. Not by a long shot. We all of us have done things we regret. Hell, I used to be called the Merchant of Death. I was a weapons manufacturer. I’m probably indirectly responsible for the deaths of as many people as you are, if not even more. None of that strips you of the right to be treated as a living being that can feel pain, that can think, that can understand and feel a whole host of emotions. What Thor did to you, what your father ordered done is barbaric. It’s savage, cruel. It’s nauseating.” Tony noticed then that his hands had curled into fists. He uncurled them, revealing angry red half-moons on his palm. “I will not have a person who is willing to do that to someone he considers family in my house. I don’t care if he’s a god or Mr. Nobody Up The Street. He is not welcome on Stark property.”

Loki blinked several times, rapidly, as though he were fighting back tears. But that was an impossible thought, so Tony pushed it away and raised an eyebrow. After a moment, Loki pulled himself together and met Tony’s gaze. “I…Thank you, Tony Stark. The small box on your desk does not lie. You have more heart than anyone I have ever met in my life. And I have lived a very long time indeed, by human standards.”

Tony frowned. “Yeah, how old are you exactly?”

Loki managed to pull up a smirk, “One thousand thirty one years old. Give or take a decade.”

Tony blinked. Waited. Blinked again. “I honestly can’t even compute that. So I’m going to pretend you never told me. Cool? Cool. Good…Okay…” He shook his head and Loki’s smirk turned more genuine. “Um…so, are you hungry? Oh holy fuck. You had your mouth sewn shut. How did you eat?”

Loki frowned. “I did not eat. That was also part of the punishment.”

Tony stared. “You…didn’t…eat…For how long?”

Loki turned away. “The punishment was handed out as soon as I arrive on Asgard and it was carried out the next day.”

Loki looked back when silence met his statement and wondered briefly if it were possible for a human’s eyes to fall out of their face. “You haven’t eaten anything in the past…” His eyes went glassy for a moment. “Five and a half months? How is that possible?”

Loki raised one eyebrow. “God.”

Tony blinked. “Right. Well, do you want to wait until your mouth heals? Or do you want something to eat? I can have basically anything delivered. And what can’t be delivered I could always send Happy out to get. So…”

“I have been inside for the same length of time that I’ve been…unable to speak. I think I would like to go outside sometime in the near future, but I would sleep first, if that is acceptable?” Loki looked unsure of the request.

Tony shrugged. “Sure, dude. Whatever you want. You’re not a prisoner here, but…um…do you have enough magic to change your appearance?”

Loki raised an eyebrow and smirked. “Do I look like a monster?”

“Er…no?”

“Then, yes. I have enough magic to shift.”

Tony held up a finger. “Woah! Wait a minute. Are you telling me this is not you?”

“Yes, Stark. This is the Aesir appearance that Odin gave to me when he…adopted me, as Thor likes to put it.”

Tony frowned. “So what do you really look like?” Loki’s face shut down. “You know what? Never mind. Forget I asked that.”

“No,” the Norse god shook his head. “You deserve to know what you are helping.”

“What I’m…”Tony trailed off as a deep blue color began to creep its way up Loki’s arms and across his bare chest. Within moments, He was entirely blue with dark lines, like tattoos across his cheekbones. His eyes when he looked up, were deep red. The only thing that remained unchanged was his glossy black mane of hair. Tony gaped at him. “Dear lord…you’re…”

“A monster, yes. I am Jotun. A frost giant. Or rather a runt Frost Giant.”

“I was going to say gorgeous, actually…but whatever floats your boat.”

Loki’s eyes darkened in the first display of anger Tony had seen since he appeared. “I do not take kindly to jests made at my expense.”

“I wasn’t jesting…er. Joking.” Tony sighed. “You know what? Fine. You have confidence issues and self-image issues. You clearly don’t see yourself properly. Whatever. Not my problem. You want to sleep? Sure. There’s an extra bedroom downstairs. The floor between this place and my room. You’ll have your own bathroom and everything. I’ll show you.”

Loki jerked his head in a way that reminded Tony strongly of that the kid in the Harry Potter movies and turned back to the way Tony was most familiar with. He led Loki down the staircase to the extra bedroom that Pepper sometimes used when they were going over paperwork late at night. The room was bare, but for the furniture and most of the drawers were empty. 

Tony motioned Loki inside. “The room’s yours. Just…my PA keeps some stuff in the top dresser drawer. Could you leave that one alone? If not, I’ll move it, but…”

Loki shook his head. “I will not touch it.”

“Thanks. Much obliged. Also, I….um…I don’t know how to phrase this. Er. Can I tell Pepper and Steve…Captain America? I sort of think I freaked them the fuck out earlier and they kinda deserve an explanation. I’ll bring them up to my living room and I’ll make sure they don’t tell anyone else.”

Loki froze, his back to Tony. A moment passed, before he turned very slowly. “You would tell another Avenger? Is your assistance limited to today? After that you wish me locked up again?”

Tony frowned. “Course not. They won’t tell anyone. In fact, Pepper is legally obligated not to tell anyone. She signed a non-disclosure. And Steve…If I make him swear, he won’t break his word. Literally. He’s programmed not to. Something about being a super-soldier. I didn’t listen to the specifics. Couldn’t be assed.”

Loki swallowed thickly and his jawed worked for a moment. It struck Tony that this was the most vulnerable and honest he’d seen the other man, since he popped up on their radar. He waited, silently, which he felt he should be congratulated for. Tony didn’t do silent so well.

After several tense minutes, Loki nodded. “Bring them up. I will be here if they wish to speak with me. If they pose a threat to me, I will wipe this from their memories.”

“Woah! You can do that? Cool…I mean, er…that’s not very ethical or anything. Whatever. Sure. Sounds good to me.” Tony grinned and backed out of the room. “You can go through my closet if you want for a shirt. I wasn’t sure I had anything that would fit you and it wouldn’t have been the easiest thing to do, putting one on you while you’re unconscious.”

Loki raised an eyebrow. “Indeed.”

Tony sketched a mocking bow and left the god to his own devices.


	4. Chapter 4

“Jarvis? Is Pepper still here? Is Steve around?”

“Yes, sir. Ms. Potts is currently hovering outside the elevator door one floor below and Mr. Rodgers is in his room.”

“Good. Let Pepper up and could you ask Steve to come up too? Thanks, Jarv, you’re the best.”

“Of course, I am, sir.”

Tony snorted and flopped down onto the sofa. He should probably go change his clothing. Both shirt and pants were flecked with blood, but his pants had gotten it worse. Especially at the upper thighs. He’d laid all the thread over his legs so it wouldn’t get stuck to things. He was tired, though, and did not feel like moving. Too bad Dum-e was upstairs, or he’d’ve had the robot fetch him something from the kitchen. Just as he was debating getting up, the elevator doors opened and Pepper came rushing out. She was clutching a Burger King bag in one hand and a first aid kit in the other. 

“Tony! Are you okay? Why weren’t we allowed up? Are you hurt? Why are you covered in blood? Why are your pants covered in blood!?!” Her voice climbed higher and higher the more she spoke. 

Tony rolled his eyes. “Pep. ‘m fine. Really. I promise. Is that a cheeseburger for me? I will love you until the end of time, if it is…” She handed him the bag and he tore into his junk food. “I’ll explain everything once Steve gets here, yeah?” He muttered around a mouthful of food.

She nodded and took a seat, staring at him intently. “You sure you aren’t hurt?”

He sighed gustily between bits. “No, Ms. Potts. I am not hurt.”

She frowned and her eyes narrowed. “Then who is?”

Steve took that moment to open the door to the stairwell. Tony raised an eyebrow and Steve grinned a little sheepishly as he made his way over to the pair. “Elevators make me nervous. Tony, are you alright?” 

“Good, you’re here. Now, I can explain this to you both at the same time.” He stood and wiped the grease onto his already nasty clothing.

“Tony…is that blood?”

“Steve, it’s fine. I’m not hurt or injured or sick or anything. Okay, Cap? Relax. Or actually, don’t. But still. I’m fine.” He went to lean against the bar. Pepper gave him a stern look. “Yes, Pep. I know. I’m off the sauce. But after the last…oh, 12 hours I’ve had I think I deserve one. Even if I’m not going to take it.” She smiled at him proudly and he smirked. “Okay, Steve, I want you to swear to me on your honor or whatever, the Bible even, that what I’m telling you goes no further than this room. Literally. No one outside this room finds out and it is not discussed outside this room, yes?”

“Tony…”

“Yes?”

“Alright, Tony. I swear.”

“And Pepper, kindly remember that you signed a non-disclosure, you are legally forbidden from talking about this to anyone. I don’t care who it is. Nick Fury or Jesus Christ himself. Nobody hears a word of this. Got it?” She nodded, eyes wide. “Jarvis?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Shut down the video feed in here. Actually, shut it down for the entire suite and the workshop. Also, have the footage from the last twelve hours put on my private server and wipe it from Stark’s and from S.H.I.E.L.D’s.”

“Already done, sir.”

“Thanks, Jarvis!”

“Tony…” Pepper’s voice was shaking slightly. “Tony, you’re scaring me.”

“I…” Tony ran a hand through his hair and dropped onto the nearest barstool. “Listen, guys. Yesterday…I think it was yesterday…um…Loki just sort of showed up in my workshop.”

Steve was half out of his chair and Pepper went pale, when Tony raised a hand. “I said I was fine, yeah? I am. He was…well, he was dripping blood and barely conscious. His…His lips had been sewn together and I think he’d been receiving beatings semi-regularly for a while.”

Pepper looked sick and Steve scowled. “He’d been captured by one of his enemies, then? Why didn’t Thor tell us?”

Tony shook his head. “That’s what I would have thought. I cut the threads and ask him who’d done that. I was assuming we were going to have a new baddie to deal with. Guess what name he gave me?”

The two stared at him, waiting. It was Loki himself who answered, however, causing both of them to start. “It was Thor. Not truly an enemy, at all.”

He’d found Tony’s Black Sabbath t-shirt, which was too short and clung to him in all the right places. Tony blinked and swallowed. He really needed to get Loki his own clothing in his own sizes. Soon.

Steve’s mouth dropped open. Pepper turned to Tony. “One, we are going to be having words as to why Loki is wearing your clothing and what exactly he is still doing here. And Two, that explains Thor yesterday I guess.”

Tony sneered. “Yeah. Yeah, it does. He is not entering this building again. He can video in from Jane’s for meetings for all I care. You don’t do that to family. Fuck, you don’t do that to anyone. But no, the Allfather said it so therefore it must be correct. Fuck that.”

Loki edged further into the room. “Ms…Potts, yes?” She nodded and eyed him warily. “Ms. Potts, I am wearing Stark’s clothing because I have none of my own. I was stripped before I was incarcerated so that they could make sure I had no sharp objects available to me. Even a button could have been sharpened enough to cut the thread, which bound my voice and my magic. Stark has kindly lent me something to wear.”

Steve was shaking his head. “Wait. Hold on. You’re trying to tell me that Thor took a needles and thread and actually sewed your lips shut so you couldn’t use your magic and then chucked you into a cell naked and left you to rot?”

“Not entirely. One of Thor’s companions came at irregular intervals to remind me of my fallen state and to exact retribution for the lives that were lost because of me. Heedless of the fact that only three or four Asgardians died as a direct result of my actions and none by my hand. They blamed me for the deaths on Jotunheim and on Midgard. I believe the Midgardian phrase is that they extracted their pound of flesh? Well, that is mostly likely literal in my case. The magic in me heals my body at a much faster rate than even others of my kind. They could remove the flesh from my bones and it would grow back. That only happened the one time, however. Mostly, they were content to take out their anger with staves and their hands.”

Tony looked a little green at that and Pepper was chalky white. Steve was as still as a statue, staring feverishly at Loki. Tony stood. “Dear fucking god, I need a drink. That’s all on top of the fact that they did not feed him or give him anything to drink, cause hey, his mouth couldn’t open so why bother. Fuck. What a clusterfuck.”

“Do you regret what you did to Earth?” Steve’s voice was quiet and steady. Tony recognized the tone immediately. He was in soldier mode. 

“Yes, Captain America. I do. I regret many of my actions. I think I was not…entirely stable when I led the Chitauri here. I had been falling through a pocket of space outside the Nine Realms. Stark has seen this place. It is…terrible. A vast and hollow place.”

“It’s like living inside death. Cold and…” Tony shuddered. 

Loki eyed him for a moment. “Indeed.” He came further into the room. “Spending so much time in that place…did things to my mind. The Chitauri found me. I…I don’t have any excuse for my actions. The Chitauri wanted the Tesseract. It was here, so I was sent to get it. As a reward, I was to be given the people of Midgard to rule. I never wanted to rule, here or Asgard or anywhere at all. All I wanted, before…the Bifrost was destroyed, was to be my brother’s equal. In his eyes, in the eyes of the court, and in the eyes of Odin, my adopted father. It is a long and complicated tale, but I was not well when I came to Midgard. The time I spent unable to speak reminded me of the futility of wanting leadership, when you are so very unfit. I am a monster and monsters are not made to be Kings. I am sorry for what I did to your planet.”

Tony frowned. “You are being remarkably forthcoming…Loki Liesmith…Loki Silvertongue, they call you. The God of Lies. But you still…Why are you not lying now?”

Loki blinked, visibly stunned. “I…I cannot. I was given a potion to prompt me to confess my crimes before they silenced me forever. I am not called Silvertongue for nothing and Thor, who questioned me, is not the most intelligent of men, as I’m sure you realize.” Tony nodded wryly. “I evaded many of the questions, but it only wears off with speech. I did not speak to the extent required for the effects to dissipate. Thus, the God of Lies may only speak truth today.” His tone was bitter for the first time, since he’d entered the living room.

Tony raised an eyebrow and opened his mouth, no doubt to comment on the irony of that statement, but Steve beat him to it. “I’d say innocent by reason of insanity? And you seem to have already served your time. If you’d been imprisoned here, none of that would have happened. You’d have been bored stiff in a glass cell in the basement of this building, getting regular meals and probably having to put up with a S.H.I.E.L.D. issue shrink. What they did to you was…” Steve shook his head, seemingly unable to find a strong enough word. “Repulsive to say the least.”

Tony grinned. “So you’ll help me help him, yeah?”

Steve shot Tony an incredulous look and Loki’s eyes dropped to the floor. “Of course, I will. What do you take me for? When we’re done here, I’ll step out and get Loki some clothes that fit him better.” Loki was gaping at Steve, who looked him over critically. “You look like a waif, buddy. No offense.”

Tony laughed. “After he crashes for a bit, we’re gonna go grab a bite somewhere that is not inside a building.”

Pepper offered Tony a small smile. “I can see where that would hold an attraction.” Her eyes narrowed then and she turned them on Loki. “You won’t throw Tony out anymore windows, will you?”

Loki was startled into a quiet chuckle. Tony gasped softly at the sound and made a mental note to try and provoke it again. “No, Ms. Potts. I will refrain from defenestrating Stark again. Unless he asks me to do so.” He was grinning.

It was Tony’s turn to laugh. “Look who reads the thesaurus. Defenestrate’s a big word, friend. And I really don’t think I’ll be asking you that anytime soon. Don’t get your hopes up.”

Loki raised an eyebrow. “Having an extensive vocabulary is a mark of a higher intelligence. Not that I expect you to understand that, Stark.”

Tony mock-scowled at him and pointed to himself. “Genius, remember? I’ve got the fourth highest IQ ever recorded and I’ve been a member of Mensa since I was seven.”

Pepper and Steve had been watching the interaction like a tennis match. Pepper sighed loudly, pulling the attention of the two men to her. “Dear God, Steve. There are two of them now. I can barely keep up with Tony as it is.”

Steve laughed. “Well, maybe he’ll spend his time annoying Loki instead of us now. He’s got Banner to techno-speak with and now Loki to snark with. It’s a perfect situation.”

Tony pouted and dropped into a chair. “Loki, I think they’re making fun of us.”

Loki looked a little dazed at the ease and lightness of the conversation, but he managed a half-hearted smirk. “No, Stark, I think they’re making fun of you.”

Tony pouted harder before turning puppy dog eyes on the Norse god. “Save me?”

Loki raised an eyebrow before turning and going back up the stairs. Tony’s deep belly-laugh followed him all the way back to the room he’d been lent. The bed was soft and unlike anything he’d felt in months. He was a sleep in moments. 

Back in the living room, Pepper was looking genuinely concerned. “Tony, you seem very comfortable with him. You said he only appeared yesterday, but you’re treating him like he never threw…er…defenestrated you.”

Tony rolled his eyes. “You just like that word because it sounds dirty.” Pepper looked at him pointedly. “Okay, okay! Fine. I’ve been doing some reading on Norse mythology while I’ve been trying to crack this magic puzzle. Seems to me Loki’s been treated pretty much like shit, if even half of this stuff is true. Did you know, according to the myths, that Odin killed Nari, Loki’s son, and bound Loki with Nari’s entrails. If that wasn’t enough, a giant venomous snake was supposed to drip poison onto him so he would writhe in pain.”

Pepper looked vaguely sick and Steve’s face was blank. “I’m going to pretend you didn’t tell me that, Tony. I do not want to know things like that. But she does have a valid question.”

Tony looked away, out the window in the far wall. “I…I see myself when I look at him. Or, rather, when I was reading about him and I spoke to Thor about him too. To see what he was like. I wanted to know why he did…what he did. It was like looking into a twisted mirror. One where, when I escaped from that cave, I didn’t have Pepper to come back to, or Rhodey, or Happy. One where I never met Yinsen. There was no one. I think…I think that might have been me. It could have been me. I’ve got the money and the technology and the brains to create…well, anything I really wanted. If I wanted to make the world pay for what was done to me, I could have. Who could have stopped me? In the suit? Or in some version of the suit more adapted for offensive maneuvers and made to withstand direct attack? I…I think I understand him more than most people. Maybe more than anybody. We can all see he’s got major Daddy Issues. So do I. I was basically abandoned by my father after I was born. Left to fend for myself. He never said he loved me. He never touched me, no hugs or kisses for a scraped knee. No contact. I…I hated him and I loved him and I would have done absolutely anything for his approval. Anything. My father didn’t see me as a son. I was a creation. Loki’s issues…well, I’m not sure they’re quite as bad as mine. At least he believed his father loved him for all of his childhood and some of his adult life. Not as much as Odin loved Thor, but some love at least. Some emotion at all.”

Pepper and Steve were staring at him, caught between horror and sympathy. 

“So when you say that I’m too friendly too fast or that I’m adapting too quickly…This is something I think I’ve been working toward since Thor took him back to Asgard all those months ago.”

Pepper stood and went to him, wrapping him in a tight hug. “Oh, Tony. How can anyone think you don’t have a heart? I think you’re heart’s bigger than anyone else’s I’ve ever met. I’m here for whatever you need me for and I won’t tell a soul he’s here.”

Tony squeezed her tight and nodded into her hair. “Thanks.” He whispered before pulling away. 

“Me too, Tony. Whatever you need. S.H.I.E.L.D. won’t hear about this from me. No one will. I swear to God.” Steve slung an arm around Tony’s shoulders and Tony offered him a half grin. 

“Thanks you two. That means…a lot.” He took a breath and pulled out of their embrace. “Pep, do you think you could pick up a bag of…toiletries. He literally has nothing.”

“Sure. I’ll do it later this afternoon and bring them by with the paperwork I have for you to sign for the repairs to that plant you bought out west.”

“Perfect.”

“I’ll pick up some clothes and thing for him this afternoon too. I think I can guesstimate his sizes.” Steve smiled crookedly and Tony couldn’t help but return it. 

“You’re the best, Capsicle.” Steve glowered at the nickname. “I’ll have some funds transferred into your account so you don’t have to use my card. Jarvis?”

“Already done, sir. Will $5,000 dollars be sufficient?”

“Yep. Sounds perfect, Jarv. Thanks.” 

Steve blinked. “Five…Uh.”

Tony smirked. “Get him nice clothing. Soft and light. The guy’s been locked in a cell naked for months. Nice things. I honestly don’t care where it comes from, but new and nice. In green and black, I would guess.” Pepper raised an eyebrow. “Hey! Same color as his armor, okay? Whatever.”

Pepper laughed. “I think you’re letting yourself in for a world of hurt, Tony Stark.”

Tony grinned. “And I’m going to love every minute of it.”

Pepper smiled. “Yes. Yes, I think you are.”

Steve looked confused.


	5. Chapter 5

After Captain America left to do whatever it was he did this early in the morning, Tony and Pepper sat on the stone steps outside and watched the city come back to life.

“Tony, are you positive you know what you’re doing? You’re sure you can handle Loki?”

Tony raised at eyebrow at her. “No. Of course, I’m not positive I can handle Loki. I am sure that he poses no threat right now. He won’t have his magic back for at least a week, according to him. I’d say probably slightly longer. The reading I got off him are so low-level as to be almost non-existent. I know I should hate the guy. Hell, he actively tried to kill me, but I’m honestly not really all that torn up about it. I’m fine. I got my suit in time. The worst it did was give me a few scratches.” He spun his finger in a circle and rolled his eyes. Pepper snorted. “I’m more worried about how easy Steve is taking this.”

Pepper shook her head. “No. Steve is Captain America. He will always root for the underdog and he will always protect the weak when they can’t defend themselves. What the Asgardians—“

“Aesir.”

“What the Aesir did to Loki…that made him weak and it made him the victim, in Steve’s head because no prisoner should be treated like that. No person should be treated like that. It doesn’t help that Steve never really liked Thor all that much. Tolerated him, like he did you at the beginning. You remember the stories of Captain America, right? The scrawny little guy who became a super soldier? I think maybe the good Captain sees something of himself in Loki as well. Not nearly to the extent you do, but…”

Tony nodded. “Yeah, I can see that.”

“I’m worried about you though, Tony. I saw how you looked at him when he first appeared, in your clothes. I know that look and I think that is a really really bad idea. Especially if it’s going to end up as…12% of a thing.”

Tony groaned. “I am never going to live that down, am I? Shit, Pep, I already apologized for that.” She raised an eyebrow. “Alright, fine. I’m not going to seduce him, okay? I promise. He’s…damaged at the moment. I am not going to take advantage of that. Yes, he’s…”

“Stunning? Gorgeous? Beautiful?”

“Er…yeah. That. I was reaching for damn sexy, but that works. In both his skins… I mean…um…ignore that I said that, yeah? Anyway, he’s all those things, but he’s been torture for the past six months, almost. I’m not doing a damn thing.”

Pepper smiled warmly at him. “See, Tony? I knew you were an honorable man under all your dickishness.”

Tony looked scandalized. “Ms. Potts! What language!”

She giggled at his expression. “Ah, Tony. I’ve missed you since this whole mess started.”

He frowned. “What?”

“The Avengers thing. You’ve been…distant? Since it started…no, maybe that’s not right. It was after the first bit…it was…Oh no.”

Tony turned his face away and looked out over the city again. 

“I hurt you, didn’t I? Breaking things off like that?” She was trying to catch his eyes, but he kept his gaze determinately away.

“I’m fine, Pepper. I’m always fine. Everybody gives up eventually. I figured you would too. No biggie.”

Pepper gaped at him. “Oh God. Tony! That’s not what I meant at all! I’ll never give up on you! I love you. I always will, just…not like that.”

Tony offered her a sad smile. “It’s fine. Really. It’s fine. Just…forget I mentioned it.”

“Oh, Tony.” Her voice was sad, wistful, just a little bit pained.

He grinned at her and stood. “Come on, girlie. I’m going to shower and unless you want to join me…” He waggled his eyebrows at her. “I suggest you go to work.”

“Yes, Mr. Stark.” She groused, willingly to leave things be, but sad all the same about the unwitting hurt she’d dealt her best friend.

They both re-entered the living room. Tony went back up to his bedroom, stopping by Loki’s open door to check on him. The god was sleeping peacefully. Tony smiled softly, thinking that maybe Pepper was right. He was in for a world hurt, if he felt this…responsible…protective of Loki already. He sighed and closed the door over as he left. Upstairs, Tony stripped off, took a much-needed shower, and went to sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

Loki came awake slowly, feeling warm and comfortable and content. He laid still for a moment, relishing the dream. He was still in his cell, waiting for the next round of beatings and shivering in the cold. This was all just a lovely hallucination his brain conjured. He stretched and whacked his hand against the headboard. The sharp pain in his fingers brought him upright with a jerk. He’d left Stark’s clothing on before getting into bed and he was glad for it. It helped remind him that he was free. Probably. He still did not understand exactly what was happening now and what was making Tony Stark treat him with such…care.

He rose from the bed and wandered out into the hallway. There was voices echoing up from the floor below and Loki crept very softly down the stairs, until he could hear words. He stopped to listen.

“—use it all?”

“Tony, are you joking? Of course, I didn’t use all of the five grand you gave me for the clothing! Have Jarvis take it back!”

There was a deep, throaty laugh that sent a shiver up Loki’s spin. Stark. “Nope, Cap. That’s for you. As a thank you for being such a champ. If you don’t want it, donate it. Or save it in case I send you on more errands.” There was a grin in his voice.

Captain America must have snorted. “I am not your errand boy, Stark.”

“Course not, Capsicle.” His voice was indulgent, like he was talking to an exceptionally slow child. Loki fought back a snort. There was a pause.

“Tony…”

“Steve.”

“Tony, I’m worried about you. I know Pepper is too. I—“

“Talk with Ms. Potts much, do you?” There was something dark and bitter in Stark’s voice now.

“Tony…”

“No. I’m sorry. That was…I’m sorry. You’re worried?” The words were thick with pain and attempted light-heartedness.

“I…Alright. Yes, I’m worried. You’ve taken to Loki…really kinda fast, Tony. I know you’ve been working on the magic puzzle and learning all the mythology and things for months, but this is Loki. You…Thor…I just don’t…”

This time there was a sneer lurking in Stark’s voice. “You said once before that I’m not the type to lay down on the wire for the other guy, Captain. You still think I’m that guy? That selfish bastard who wouldn’t lift a hand for anyone but himself? That, what? I see a guy down on his luck and I just ignore him, because it’s more convenient not to piss off Thor? Thank you, Captain Rodgers. You know, I really did think you’d actually gotten to know me since this whole clusterfuck started. I guess not. Why do I bother?”

There was a sharp sound of someone putting something down on the countertop and then quick steps across the floor toward him. Loki tensed, but the steps stopped. “Tony! No! That’s not what I meant! Tony, the guy sleeping in your guest bed, wearing your clothes, tried to kill you, personally. He threw you out a window without your suit! He hurt you. You’re the one who pointed out that he made it personal. He tried to take control of your mind, like he did to Hawk. Tony.”

“No, Captain. Don’t try to backtrack now. Thor’s never done anything to me, right? Why would I defended Loki to Thor? That’s what you were going to say next?” Stark was snarling now. “Someone fucking has to. You weren’t the only kid who was a runt. I’m short too, yah know. I’ve always been short and I always will be. You think you’ve cornered the market on being an outsider? I was a child genius. I spent my childhood building cars and computers. Other kids, you included, went out and played with friends. You played kickball or whatever. You had friends and you played. I didn’t. You were beaten up as a kid? So the fuck was I, Steve. I was valedictorian at MIT, for fuck’s sake. Does that scream popular to you? I understand what being bullied is. The kind of treatment Loki probably got at Thor’s hand as a kid? That kind of bullying is different from your kind. Yours was because you were physically weak. Now, you aren’t. Which is a big fuck you to everyone who bullied you, who are all dead, by the way. My kind? Loki’s kind? It’s because we’re smart and we can see through other people’s bullshit. Those things don’t go away. I’ll never be not-smart unless I get some kind of disease or whatever. My fuck you was to use my brain, but I can never not be what they bullied me for. Neither can Loki. Thor is, was, and always will be a bully. He’s always dangerous to everyone in this building, because that was his brand of justice, bullying and torture. Imagine if one of us, merely his friends instead of his brother, did something wrong? Something he believed he needed to punish us for? What do you think he would do then?” There was a loud crash, as though Stark at thrown something. “Fuck all that. Excuses. Loki was hurting. I flew into a fucking inter-dimensional portal and almost died for the good of the entire fucking planet and yet you still thinking I’m not that guy? Steve, I knew I was going to die. I knew it. I had Jarvis call Pepper so I could say goodbye because I knew flying into that thing with a nuke was not conducive to living. I was willing to die, not for a cause or a single person or revenge. For the entire planet. For Every single person. Are you hearing what I’m saying? I wasn’t thinking of saving Pepper or Happy or Rhodey or any of you. I was thinking of all the kids who were going to die and all the people in Manhattan and all the families. So fuck you, Captain America.”

“Oh god, Tony! That is not what I meant. I know all that! I know you’re that guy, alright! Shit. I see it every time you put on the suit. I get it. I do. I just…”

Stark sighed and there was a ‘flump’ noise. Loki assumed he’d dropped into a chair. “Fuck, I hate this. Bruce once described the Hulk as an exposed, raw nerve. I know what he meant. If I’d known this was going to happen yesterday, I…” Loki tensed, waiting for the regret, the wish that he’d never appeared. It stung, somehow, that Tony Stark would regret the kindness he’d offered. The understanding. Though, Loki knew that there was no rational reason why it should.

There was a smile in Captain America’s voice. “You’d have done exactly the same thing, Tone. You know you would have.”

Loki frowned. Impossible. Stark sighed. “Well, yeah. Of course, I would have. But I probably wouldn’t have told anyone about it. All this psycho-shit about my deeper motivation and self-identification with Loki, et cetera, et cetera is a fucking pain in my ass.”

Shock flooded through the Norse god. He sat on the steps, stunned. Stark did not regret his actions? 

“Well, after that fun little tiff, I think I’m going to head out. Fury’s got some things he wants me to look into.” 

Tony snorted and the smile returned to his voice. “Tiff? Heh. No one uses that word anymore. Oh…Fury. Um, anything of interest?”

“Nope. I’m going to be in Montana for the next couple days though.”

“Montana? Have fun with that, Capsicle.”

There was a sigh. “You know I hate that nickname, Tony.”

Loki could almost picture the smirk and the raised eyebrow that accompanied that tone of voice, when Stark replied, “Steve, you just insulted me pretty badly. I think you deserve that one today. And for the next however many time I want to use it actually.”

Captain America huffed out a loud breath. “Fine. I’ll see you in a few days. Good luck with the maniac upstairs.”

Stark laughed. “Thanks, from the maniac downstairs.”

Loki stood and finished descending the staircase when he heard the elevator make its funny alarm noise. Tony looked up from his slumped position on the sofa. “Hello, Sleeping Beauty. How’d you sleep?”

Loki’s mouth curling into a rueful and involuntary smile. “Better than I have since I tried to take over Asgard.”

Tony looked surprised, but smiled anyway. “Well…good. That’s, um…excellent.” He eyed Loki’s rumpled clothing, making the taller man shift on his feet. “I have some clothing for you. Steve…Captain America picked it up earlier. He guessed on sizes, but I think it’ll fit okay.”

“What is Captain America’s real name?”

Tony blinked. “Steven Rodgers. Why?”

“I do not know that full names of every Avenger and I was curious.”

Tony frowned. “You know Clint’s name because you in his head. That makes sense. You obviously know Thor’s name. You know Black Widow…er, Natasha because Clint told you about her. The Hulk’s name is Bruce Banner. Doctor actually. Um…Why’d you know my name?”

“Because you created and element that is rare in the Nine Realms. You are on the Chitauri’s…I believe radar screen in the phrase? They are aware of you.”

Tony looked nonplussed. “Well, fuck. I’m inter-galactically famous. Isn’t it great to be me?”

Loki smirked. “You were. You managed to kill all but one of the Chitauri, so less so now.”

“Right.” He stood. “Anyway, here.” He reached over the back of the couch and snagged a handful of shopping bags. “I figure once your magic is back you can convert your clothing to your armor if you want. But until then, it’s civilian clothes for you. You don’t do that much leather and metal here on Midgard.”

Loki took the bags and looked into them. Everything inside was either black or some shade of green. He looked up at Tony with a raised eyebrow. 

“What? It matches your eyes…I mean…I’ve never seen you in any other color! Even that suit you had on was black!”

Loki continued to just look at him for a moment, then he turned and disappeared back up the stairs. Tony breathed a sigh of relief. He sat down again and pulled on his converses. He simply sat for a moment, in silence, for once actually appreciating the still. After a moment, he pulled out his phone and sent Pepper a text give her a heads up that Loki was awake and they’d probably be going out to dinner. 

When he looked up again, Loki was standing in the doorway, watching him. The god was sporting skinny jeans and a soft-looking pale green sweater. “Captain Rodgers failed to buy me undergarments.”

Tony blinked, stared, and then swallowed. “Thanks for telling me that. No really. Thank you. Fuck.” He banged his head against the back of the sofa. “So I guess we’ll be stopping somewhere. Jarvis?”

“At your service, sir.”

“Can you tell Happy that I’m going to be needing him this evening?”

“Of course, sir. I believe he just arrived from retrieving Ms. Potts.” 

Tony sighed. “Good. At least we won’t have to wait for him. But of course that also means…”

“Tony!” The elevator door opened. 

“Takes for the early warning, Jarv.”

“Anything for you, sir.”

“Har. Har. I did not program you for sarcasm.”

“Tony!” Pepper was waving papers at him. “Pen. Sign. Now. Thank you. Ah, Loki. Good. I had one of the interns pick these up for you. I figured you’ll be here a while anyway.” She handed him a bag. 

Loki opened it and peered in. Inside was an odd array of little bottles and packages. He looked back up. “Lady Potts, what are these things?”

Pepper grinned. “I think I like you. In fact, I do like you. You defenestrated Tony without killing him and you call me Lady Potts like I’m a British noble. Brownie points. Those are shampoo and conditioner for your hair, soap, shaving cream, a razor, things like that.”

“You bought me a weapon?” He stared at her, incredulous. Was the woman mental?”

Pepper laughed. “Not that kind of razor. It’s for shaving. It’s even got a safety thing on it. You can’t…well, actually you probably could. So could Tony. That was probably not the best choice I’ve made recently…”

Tony burst out laughing at the expression on her face. “Oh Pep, this is why I love you. You have no idea. Of course, he could turn the thing into a weapon. Thor was worried about buttons and you assume that he can’t weaponize an actual blade?”

She looks sheepish. 

“It doesn’t matter. He could just grab a knife from the kitchen or a bedpost or something if he wanted a weapon. Leave the razor be.”

Loki raised an eyebrow. “Very true. However, I do not need it. I have never grown facial hair, unless I wish to.”

Tony frowned for a moment, before realization dawned. “Ah! Shape-shifter! Of course.”

Pepper bit her lip. “Speaking of, how are we going to explain you going out to dinner with a man no one has ever seen before? How are you going to explain him to the Avengers?”

Tony looked at her. Just looked for several moments, before…”Tony!”

“What!?! It’s completely plausible!”

“First of all, you should ask him if he’s okay with that first! And second, you have never been seen with a man!”

Tony rolled his eyes. “Fine. Loki, do you mind if we pass you off as my…er…date? To avoid awkward questions?”

Loki smirked. “I am to be another notch in the famous Stark bedpost? How many bedposts have you gone through already, by the way?”

Tony choked. “Hey! I’m not that much of a whore!”

Pepper raised an eyebrow. “Tony, the last time you actually gave a count of how many people you’d slept with, you were at four hundred and seven five women and twelve men.”

Tony flipped her off and glowered. 

Loki’s smirk deepened. “Ah, so I am to join an exclusive club then. Only twelve men, Stark? I wonder why?”

Tony actually flushed. Loki looked gleeful. “I…er…Women are easier to pull? And there is much less trust involved with women.”

Loki frowned. “Trust?” He looked puzzle for a moment before his eyes widened. “Oh good lord. You prefer to bottom.”

This time Tony turned absolutely scarlet. So did Pepper. Tony spluttered for a moment. “Actually, that’s not what I meant, but if you must know, I don’t actually care. Either way is fine. But there is trust involved for both people regardless. You are either trusting or being trusted and…well…I don’t trust easily and people tend not to trust me. In fact, almost no one I know trusts me. So, yes. Only twelve.”

“I’m sorry. I did not need to hear about how you have sex with guys, Tony. Thank you very much. I’ll just be taking my paperwork and going!” She snatched it from Tony’s hand and exited quickly. 

Tony laughed. Loki looked thoughtfully at him. “What?”

“You would throw away a part of your reputation so that I may be outside?”

Tony shrugged. “Sure. Whatever. It’s not like people don’t expect me to fuck anything that moves anyway. Or actually…anything attractive that moves. No one ever accused me of having sex with ugly people.”

Loki raised an eyebrow, which seemed a common expression for him. “Ah, so I will change my appearance, then.”

Tony frowned. “Normally I would say no. You are certainly hot enough to be seen with me, but I think it might be a good idea to lay low at the moment and avoid the other Avengers. Steve is in Montana and I’m not sure I can deal with all the rest of them on my own.”

Loki looked stunned. The expression didn’t change when he shifted his appearance. His hair shortened and curled into ringlets. It lightened to blond and his eyes to blue. He shrank just a little, so the bottoms of his jeans bunched around his ankle boots. He grew a dusty, blondish red goatee. Otherwise his face was exactly the same.

Tony gaped at him. “You look exactly like yourself and yet, nothing at all like yourself. I love the goatee, but the way. We match!” He laughed.

Loki rolled his eyes. “Exactly what I do not need.” The goatee filled in just a little, making it look less like Tony’s.

Tony chuckled. “Come on. Let’s get food. Jarvis, tell Happy we’re on our way down.”

“Yes, sir.”


	7. Chapter 7

Loki chose the restaurant. It was a little bistro with outdoor tables. Tony waved the waiter away before even looking at the menu and just watched Loki bask in the late afternoon sun on his face. 

“Valhalla, it’s good to be under the sky again.” Loki murmured when they’d sat down, more to himself than to Tony. 

Tony smiled softly at him, then blinked when a flashbulb went off in his face. Loki jerked, his eyes opening quickly and looked around. Tony was not amused. He looked up to find a small flock of paparazzi crowding around the small iron fence that marked off the restaurant. With a scowl, Tony stood and went to the fence. 

“Do you people mind? We’re trying to have dinner.”

One of the reporters at the back shoved her way forward with a salacious grin. “Who’s your friend, Tony?”

Tony raised eyebrow. He’d had sex with this woman a long time ago. “I’m sorry. Do I know you?” She looked like she’d been slapped. “His name is Liam and we would like some peace and quiet, if you don’t mind.” He raised an eyebrow.

A man pushed forward this time. “This seems awfully cozy. We don’t see you bring your women out to dinner, Stark. Is this you coming out of the closet?”

Tony turned to him with an expression that said clearly: Did you honestly just ask me that? “You people ask insanely personal questions and seem to think you have to right to answers. Guess what, darlin’. You don’t. I was never in the closet. I am not gay. I am not straight. I don’t like labels. So fuck off and leave me the fuck alone.”

That statement sent them scrambling for notepads and recorders. They shouted questions over each other. Tony pinched the bridge of his nose, until he felt an arm wrap around his waist. He glanced over his shoulder to find Loki, smiling benignly at the reporters. Tony smirked at him. “Hello.”

Loki glanced down at him and pressed closer. “You wanted to give me a cover.” He murmured in Tony’s ear, sending shivers down his spine. “Let’s give me a cover.”

He turned Tony’s head, gently, and pressed a chaste kiss against his mouth. It was briefly and not nearly as much as Tony was quickly realizing he wanted, but he squelched that thought and smiled. Loki turned his gaze on the stunned crowd. “Does that answer your questions?” His voice wasn’t as deep as it usually was, but no less velvety and he’s retained his vaguely British accent. Tony wondered about that accent, since he was supposed to a Norse god, but he shrugged it off.

Tony turned to them as well. “You lot have the gossip headline of the century. Tony Stark swings both ways. Now, go write it and leave us alone.”

The crowd disbanded and the two went back to their seats. They sat in silence for a moment before they both burst into laughter. “Well, that was fun.” Tony commented with a wide grin. “Time for food.”

It occurred to Tony as he watched Loki stare dazedly at the menu that the god might not actually be that familiar with human food. “You okay there, Rock of Ages?”

Loki glowered at him for a moment before turning back to the menu. “These…pet names you insist on creating need work, Stark.”

“Tony.”

Loki frowned and looked up. “What?”

“If I have to call you by your name, you have to call me by mine, Loki. Which is Tony.”

To hide his surprise at the request, people rarely wished to be on terms quite that intimate with him, Loki forced a smirk. “I believe you actual name is Anthony, in fact.”

Tony flinched. He actually flinched, as though he’d been hit. “Only my father called me Anthony.”

Loki blinked. “Ah. Well, then. Tony it is, I suppose. As long as you cease with…what were the other pet names? Reindeer Games? Sleeping Beauty, which I do not understand in the least…”

Tony grinned. “You’ve never heard the tale of Sleeping Beauty and the Evil Witch?”

Loki shook his head, frowning. Tony laughed and proceeded to tell the tale, his hands flailing and his face contorting. Loki was mesmerized. He thought perhaps this human is genuinely kind at heart, to offer him such…compassion. The tale ended, the waiter brought their orders, and Loki was jerked back to reality. Of course not. There must be some underlying motivation, something. But, try as he might, Loki could find no lie in the man’s words. In fact, he was disturbingly honest, the majority of the time. 

“St…Tony.” He looked up from his meal and met the other’s eyes. “I still do not understand why you are doing this. I am evil. I am a monster. I am a murderer. You nearly lost a good friend over me. You just…destroyed a piece of your reputation for me. You are risking everything for me. Please! Tell me why. I do not understand.”

Tony offered him a half-grin. “Loki, your staff stayed with us when you left, you remember?” The god nodded. “I took it. I told S.H.I.E.L.D. that I was testing it, making sure it wouldn’t try to kill us all if you destroyed it, that I would dispose of it. None of that was strictly a lie, but I examined it first and ran some tests. I also stole all the CCTV and security footage that I could find of you and of the staff. Loki, I am almost certain that many of your actions were not your own.”

Loki was frowning deeply. “No, Stark. I knew exactly what I was doing. You understand that I am the God of Lies and of Mischief. I—“

“Mischief, Loki, is not chaos. Had you ever done something like that before? Excluding the number you supposedly did on Jotunhiem.”

Loki tried to remember. He had to have. He created chaos with his very presence…didn’t he? He skimmed his childhood memories: fights with Thor, pranks he played, pranks they’d played together, his own fierce desire to help Thor become the King he needed to be, resentment that Thor was favor by their father accompanied by the need to be better…No chaos. Nothing truly evil…only…fun. He looked back at Tony, eyes wide in a clear display of his shock. 

Tony, for his part, would have thoroughly enjoyed that expression if not for what caused it. “Loki, I think the staff tampered with your mind. It’s capable of it, as you probably remember from the little trick you pulled with Clint and Dr. Selvig. The one you tried to pull with me. When you arrive here through the tesseract, you looked exactly like Clint did, when he was under its power, only ten times worse. The bruises under his eyes and the other physical effects were amplified on you. He looked tired. You looked like you’d been punched in both eyes…twice. You were crazed and honestly? ‘I am Loki of Asgard and I am burdened with glorious purpose’? That sounds nothing like you. You’re melodramatic, but not that bad.”

Loki was blinking rapidly. He could feel things shifting inside his head and it was a horribly disconcerting feeling, not having control over his own brain. 

“The further from the staff you were, the saner you acted. The more like I imagine you were before the Asgard snafu. You also looked content to be in that cell, far away from the staff, unable to find the tesseract and out of the hands of the Chitauri. I destroyed the staff myself. It doesn’t have power over you anymore. Can you feel the difference?” Tony leaned forward, staring intently at Loki’s startled face.

“I…” Loki paused. Things inside him click back. He swallowed thickly. “Oh gods, What I did…” He went pale. “I feel sick.”

Tony nodded. “You’re finally shaking it off, aren’t you? The tesseract wasn’t destroyed and that was the ultimate power of the staff, so as long as you were unaware of its presence, it remained. The beating Hulk gave you didn’t work like a hit to the head did to Clint. You needed a different kind of cognitive recalibration.” Tony smiled and reached out to take Loki’s hand, where it rested on the table. “Loki, you aren’t evil and you aren’t a monster. You went a little crazy and then you were being controlled by the Chitauri and Thanos. You are the God of Mischief, not evil or chaos. There is a difference there.”

Loki nodded. “Yes, I…there is a difference. I…I owe you a great debt, Tony Stark, for what you’ve done for me this day.”

Tony laughed, deeply and edged with joy. Loki could feel it in the pit of his stomach, like a warm pool of caramel. “No biggie. Finish your dinner and we’ll go roam around Central Park for a while.”


	8. Chapter 8

Central Park was shockingly empty, compared most evenings Tony had been there. The two found a bench near a pond and sat. Tony left Loki to his thoughts, as it was clear that the immortal was having trouble coming to grips with the fact that he’d been controlled by the Tesseract. 

They sat in relative silence, Tony playing with his phone, for forty-five minutes before Loki stood and walked to the water’s edge. He toed off his shoes and bent to roll up his pants. Tony took the opportunity to admire the taller man’s backside, which was hot in those jeans. Tony wanted to squeeze it see if it was as muscular as it looked and…No. Those thoughts were not needed right now. He determinating looked away.

“St—Tony. Tell me more about your study of the scepter?”

As Tony watched, Loki walked into the pond, until the water lapped gently at his rolled up jeans. “The thing releases the same gamma radiation signature as the Tesseract so it made sense to test it, in order to find out if it possessed the same potential energy and power, as well. It exhibits the same ability to act on its own, though with not nearly as much frequency or power. It had the same ability to be weaponized that the Tesseract had, as I’m sure you’re aware. It also had the ability to reach out and control everything it came into contact with. Whatever force controls the tesseract, be it the Chitauri or HYDRA or Asgard, they also control the staff. When the Chitauri managed to control the Tesseract from afar and sent you to fetch it, they were controlling the staff and everyone that came in contact with it. You wielded it, so it was not necessary to take full control of your mind and heart, like you did with Clint. You were in contact with it, almost constantly, until we put you in the Hulk box. There was enough residual energy from it in you to maintain the control it and the Chitauri had on you. I tested it on lab rats and on Bruce, which didn’t work so well. The Hulk doesn’t like giving up his control. But I also tested it on Natasha, who volunteered. The longer she was out of contract with it, the weaker the control. I technically held control of the staff, but she wielded it. I then checked the effect of the direct mind control, like you did with Clint. The also weakened with distance and time. I assume it stayed so strong with him and Dr. Selvig, because they were almost constantly in the presence of the actual Tesseract. That part’s just a theory though. There are more pieces missing, information on how to mindfuck starts and where it ends. The extent of the control and the extent to which the person controlled realizes it. They differ depending on whether it’s direct control or control through the staff of its wielder. The staff itself proved too great a danger to keep research so I destroyed it. Created a new element in the mean time too. It occurred to me to worry about whatever was left of the Chitauri and whether they could trace it here.”

Loki nodded and turned. “Indeed. A well thought-out assumption. I imagine that you are correct in that. It is good that the scepter can no longer be used.”

Tony stood and walked to the water’s edge. “Hey. Look, Loki. You weren’t yourself and yet you weren’t anyone else either. I get that. I really do. I also understand that you don’t feel worthy of being helped right now and that you are probably waiting for this to all disappear. To wake up back in your cell, ready for the next bit of torture. Believe me, I understand all that.”

“Tony, I feel…like a horse. You are waving a sugar cube in front of me, but I know that the moment I reach for it, it will disappear.”

Tony raised an eyebrow. “Really? You’re going with that analogy?” Loki snorted. “Fine, I’m not going to take away your sugar cube. The longer it sits there in front of you, the more comfortable you’ll get with reaching for it. When you finally do, it will still be there. I promise you that.”

“What is your heart’s desire, Tony Stark?”

Tony blinked a couple times, mental whiplash at the subject change, but went with it. “Time. Why?”

Loki smiled, a genuine smile, and Tony had to fight not to gape. “Then, when I reach for the sugar cube and find it still there, I will give you all the time you could imagine.”

Tony frowned. “You’re offering me immortality? Loki, you don’t have to do that to ensure that I’ll continue helping you. I’d do it regardless. Of course, I won’t say no to your kind of godhood.” He grinned.

Loki nodded and walked back to his shoes. He snapped his fingers, drying his calves and feet with magic. Tony’s eyes widened, but he didn’t comment. Loki smirked, feeling a little more himself. He had barely any magic, but knowing there was some there was reassuring.

The trip back to Avengers’ Tower was once again quiet. Tony played with his phone, trying to draw together the research into the staff he’d done in a coherent enough way to present it to the rest of the team and to Fury. Now that he had proof that it was true, he finally had the extra push to break it to them. When they arrived back, Tony slung an arm around Loki’s waist and pulled him close. “Ham it up,” he whispered in the taller man’s ear.

Loki smirked down at him and wrapped his own arm around Tony’s shoulders. The two entered the elevator like that. It stopped on several floor on the way up, people coming and going. Tony held his breath when it stopped at the bottom floor of the Avengers’ section of the building. They exited that elevator, into the hallway by the lounge, and made their way to the other that would take them up to Tony’s rooms. Bruce appeared through a door and hailed Tony, who smiled tightly. “Bruce, ol’ buddy, ol’ pal.”

Loki flinched at the sight of the diminutive doctor, but Tony figured that was understandable after the beating the Hulk had dealt him.

“Tony, I have the readings from the last battle with Kang and the gamma radiation is simi—Oh. Um…” Bruce looked taken aback when he finally glanced up from his notes and really looked at Tony.

Loki had apparently decided to play his part to the hilt. He had draped himself around Tony and was currently…feasting was really the only word Tony’s brain could supply…on Tony’s neck. The engineer was sure he’d have a hickey there later. The arm around his shoulders dropped to his waist and the trickster’s other arm came up to worm its way under his shirt. Tony gasped sharply when fingernails grazed his nipple. “Hey, Bruce. I’ll…um…check them, nnnngh. Later. Yeah? Tomorrow. Oh lord. Tomorrow, I will find you and. Liam! Stop doing that!”

Loki pulled back and chuckled. “Tony! Stop talking. It’s distracting me.”

“Oh lord.”

Bruce coughed. “Right. You just…um…enjoy your evening then. I’ll have these for you tomorrow.” He turned on his heel and almost ran back the way he’d come.

Loki pulled away and Tony smacked him upside the head. The smack dislodged the shift and abruptly, Loki looked like Loki again. The Norse god turned wide, incredulous eyes on Tony. “I cannot believe you did that! Bruce is going to laugh himself silly and I will never hear the end of this. The women I bring home never do things like that!”

Loki’s expression smoothed back out and he smirked. “God of Mischief?”

“Well, fuck.” Tony sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

Loki’s smirk deepened. “That was the general idea.”

Tony shivered a little at the images that comment generated. “Har. Har.” He pushed the elevator button and turned away, trying to get his body back under control. Which actually didn’t take long, because Tony suddenly felt like he was going to collapse. This realization was part of the reason he missed the flash of disappointment and resignation that crossed Loki’s face. “God. I think I could sleep for a week…In fact, I think I might not have slept for the past week. Probably not the best of decisions…hum. Are you fine? Do you need anything?” The elevator binged and the doors opened. “You can go wherever…No, that’s a lie. I would strongly advise against going into the workshop. Dum-e will probably not take kindly to it, since you haven’t been introduced and I’m sure there is at least one other sentient machine in there and I really need to stop putting AI technology in everything, but seriously I really, really wouldn’t go near the lab. Not that you aren’t allowed in the lab because you totally are since you can go wherever you want to, but I wouldn’t since even Pepper seems to avoid it unless she can help it and Steve does too and…I’m going to stop talking now.”

Loki was standing there in the middle of the living room, staring at Tony like he was the most fascinating thing in the Nine Realms. Tony blinked and offered his shit-eating grin. “Heh.”

Loki shook his head and furrowed his brow. “Do you even know how to cease speaking?”

Tony flushed and rubbed the back of his neck. “Um….yes? Well, no…Okay, most of the time I can control it, but when the exhaustion hit, like it did just then, I loose control over my mouth and I can’t seem to filter anything that comes out. I just talk forever and honestly, most of it is in run-on sentences and I know I sound like a lunatic, but I can’t help it and please, god, just tell me to shut up and I may actually do it. Not sleeping for five days straight was a very, very bad idea, but now I’m going to collapse in about ten minutes, so I’m going upstairs. You can go wherever you want, even come up with me…I mean…no, forget I said that. I didn’t…er…yeah, well. I’m going to go sleep now. Bye.”

Tony clamped his mouth shut and hightailed it out of there. Sleep was a really good idea all of a sudden. Loki was left standing in the middle of the living room, still as a statue with his mind reeling. 

“He actually does want me. Is he completely insane?”

“Yes, sir. Mr. Stark has been diagnosed with several different kinds of mental illness, including narcissim, since he graduated from MIT at the age of seventeen.”

Loki jerked and looked around. He did not see another living creature in the room. “And you are?” Maybe if he could pinpoint where the voice was coming from…

“I am JARVIS, Mr. Stark’s AI.”

“What is an AI?”

“Artificial Intelligence. I am similar to a cyborg, but I do not have a body. I run Mr. Stark’s household, his suit, and most of the rest of his life.”

Loki was startled into a laugh. “I was under the impression that that is what Lady Potts did.”

“Correct, sir. Ms. Potts makes sure Mr. Stark interacts properly with other human beings. I make sure he stays alive, at his current level of sanity or above, and does not kill anything or anyone. Most of the time. I also run any and all programs necessary for security, surveillance, and maintenance. If you require anything, sir, I can direct you or retrieve it for you.”

Loki nodded, but then realized that the AI might not be able to see it. “Yes, thank you. I believe I am fine. Though, would you be willing to answer a few questions about Sta…Tony?”

“To an extent, sir. I can give you any information that is public knowledge and I am programmed to allow certain people access to certain information. If you wish we can test the extent to which you have access?”

“Yes, alright. Could you tell me about his life? I find that I know nothing really about him and yet he knows a great deal about me…”


	9. Chapter 9

Tony slept through the night and into the following morning. When he arose, he felt much more coherent then he had when he went to bed. He showered and threw on a pair of sweatpants, before wandering down to the kitchen for food. He stopped dead in his tracks, halfway across the living room, when he spotted Loki standing in the middle of his kitchen. He was bent at the waist and peering into the oven. He was also wearing a pair of the boxers they’d stopped off for the night before. Only the boxers. With an half-apron tied around his waist. The kind that don’t have the bib part. Tony’s mouth went dry and he made some kind of involuntary noise. Loki straightened and turned.

“Tony.” He smirked at Tony’s lingering gaze, which swept over his chest. “If you can waist twenty minutes, the croissants should be ready.”

Tony shook his head, blinked, and looked back up at Loki’s face. “I’m sorry. I could have sworn I heard you say that you made croissants.”

“I did.”

Tony sat heavily in a chair at the island in the center of the kitchen. “Oh lord. How do you even—“

Tony cut himself off, when he saw Loki stiffen abruptly and turn back into Liam. “I believe Dr. Banner and Lady Romanoff are coming up the elevator.”

Tony sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Unless you want to give yourself away, Call her Miss Romanoff. Or Black Widow, since that’s what the press has taken to calling her.”

Loki/Liam nodded and went to the fridge. He pulled out an odd assortment of of foods and began preparing something. Tony didn’t bother trying to figure out what it was. The elevator binged and Tony turned. “In here.” He called.

Bruce and Tasha appeared in the doorway. “Tony, about last night, I—“ Bruce turned a bright shade of red when he spotted Loki. “Oh. Um…Hello, Liam.”

“Liam, Bruce Banner, since you wouldn’t let me properly introduce you last night. And Natasha Romanoff. Guys, this is William…um…”

Loki raised an eyebrow and watched Tony flounder. Natasha snorted. “Well, at least you remember his first name. Good morning, Liam. Has the cad been trying you well?”

Loki smirked. “Other then misremembering my last name, yes. He has. He even outed himself to the press last night, for me.” Loki slunk up to Tony’s chair and wrapped his arms around the shorter man’s shoulders. Tony’s expression went flat and blank. 

Natasha eyed him. “Uh, Liam? I wouldn’t do that. Or really approach any of us from behind, especially with intent to grab. You might not like the consequences.”

Loki frowned and leaned around to peer at Tony’s face. “Oh god! Tony I’m sorry. Are you okay?” The casual phrasing sounded on to his own ears, but it shook Tony from wherever place his thoughtless touch had sent him. 

Tony blinked hard and frowned. “Fine. Fine. Sorry. Just…yeah, what she said.”

Liam let go and took a step back. Tony scowled and reached for him, drawing him back. “I didn’t say you should go away, just be aware, yeah?” He huffed and winked at Loki, who chuckled.

Bruce was frowning at them. “Well, I guess Tony should have switched teams a long time ago, if this is how he treats men. A woman would have been thrown out on her ass by Jarvis, well before this point.”

Tony looked horrible offended by that. Loki suppress a smile. “I’ll have you know, I have never thrown out a woman how could make croissant in my life.”

Natasha raised an eyebrow. “Have you ever had a woman who could make croissants?”

Tony waved a hand. “Details, details.”

Bruce laughed. “So, Liam can bake. Well, that certainly a good thing if you’re keeping him.”

Loki’s brows inched toward his hairline. “Liam can hear you.”

Bruce blushed. “Right. Sorry.”

Tony snickered. “So, to what do I owe this delightful visit?”

Bruce pushed a stack of papers at him. “Kang’s read outs. I know you’re playing with the magic puzzle. Thought you might want these.”

Tony nodded, eyes already skimming the print. Natasha tapped him on the forehead and he jerked, looking up. “More immediate. Fury sent me about the little problem the Norse God you kicked out of your house the other day. The one who is now refusing to set foot on any of your property for fear of being castrated or some such thing.”

Tony’s expression twisted into a sneer. “Good. And it’s going to stay that way.”

Natasha frowned. “Why?”

Tony grinned. It was a disconcertingly feral thing and Bruce took half a step back from it. “Maybe someday, I’ll tell you. For now? He stays the fuck off my property and he gets to keep all his limbs.”

Natasha eyed him wearily. “Alright.”

Tony shot a glance at Loki and took a pointedly calming breath. “Right. Also, the Avengers need to meet, officially. With Fury present. And Coulson, if he’s up for it.”

Bruce frowned. “Is this…” he glanced at Liam and waved a hand vaguely. 

Tony raised an eyebrow. “About my research into the power of the staff and its connection to the Tesseract. Yes.”

Natasha scowled. “Fuck, Tony. That’s classified information! You can’t just go talking about it with your last night’s fuck-buddy.”

Tony rolled his eyes. “Chill, Tasha. Relax. And you’ll be seeing much more of Liam…” Tony looked over and Loki and ran his eyes from head to foot and back again. “Well, metaphorically speaking. Literally, you’ve seen a lot of him already and I think I’ll keep the rest for myself.”

Loki raised an eyebrow and let a lazy smirk curl his lip. The expression was pure Loki and Tony did not understand how the other two didn’t catch on. Maybe it was the facial hair. He shrugged. 

“The croissants are ready. Anyone want one?”

The four of them sat down, ate homemade pastries, and talked about nothing for an hour. Until Pepper’s voice broke the stillness as the elevator binged again. “TONY STARK, I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU!”

Tony jerked to his feet and practically ran into the living room, Bruce and Natasha’s laughter following him. “Pepper, come meet Liam, would you? He made croissants. Tasha and Bruce are eating some with us.”

Pepper was staring at him. He gave her a significant look and she followed him into the kitchen scowling. She paused in the door way, horror on her face when she spotted a man who was clearly Loki sitting in boxers and an apron and talking to The Hulk and Black Widow. She stared at Loki. How do they not see!?!?

“Pepper, Liam. Liam, Pepper. She’ll be taking care of the fallout from last night.

Pepper seemed to remember why she was there. “Exactly! Tony! What have I told you about warning me about these things!?! I do not appreciate being woken up at six in the morning by an New York Times reporter asking when you realized you were gay, how many men have you slept with, and who Liam is.”

Tony scowled. “I am not gay. People need to get a grip.” Natasha looked at the hickey clearly visible on Tony’s exposed neck, the scratch marks on his bare chest, and then pointedly at Liam. Tony’s scowl deepened. “Just because I fuck men, Ms. Romanoff, does not mean that I’m gay. It just means I’m not entirely straight. Labels are stupid.”

Pepper sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “That’s what I told the reporter…that last part anyway. I also told him that you always knew your sexuality and that you’ve just been more discrete about your male partners, and that no, I will not set him up with you.”

Tony looked incredulous and Loki burst into laughter. Tony turned to stare at him in awe. Natasha snorted. “Damn, boy. You’ve got it bad.”

Tony turned to glare at her. “Out! Both of you, out of my kitchen!”

Bruce pouted. “Why are we the only ones getting thrown out?”

Tony shot him a look that said: you have to ask? “Do you honestly think I’m going to try to thrown Pepper out? Are you nuts? But good point. Liam? You might want to put clothes on? You’re very distracting without them…”

Loki blinked at the sincerity he could hear in that statement, but plastered a small smile on his face. “Sure thing, lover. I won’t want to distract you from the consequences of your little stunt last night.”

He smirked when Tony slumped forward and banged his head on the table. Bruce and Natasha retreated to the elevators and disappeared. Loki went to get dressed.


	10. Chapter 10

“So, How angry do you think Natasha and Bruce will be when you tell them that they ate something Loki made?” Pepper asked with a false innocence.

Tony stared at her. “Oh…fuck.”

“You didn’t even think of that, did you?” Tony shook his head despondently. Pepper rolled her eyes.

“It’ll be fine, thought. Once they all know what I found out.”

Pepper frowned. “And what is that?”

Tony grinned. “That Loki didn’t do it…okay, well, that’s not true, but he is innocent.”

Pepper watched him sadly. “Tony, I know you’re—“

“No, really, Pep. I’ve been studying that stupid scepter for months. He was under the control of the Tesseract. His time…in Thor’s tender care shook off most of the effects, but I watched him come out of it last night. His eyes flashed the same blue as the scepter. I even managed to catch it on my phone. I’m not sure he realized I was filming him. I knew there had to be a visible sign when he came out of it. It’s just like Clint.”

“Dear God. You’re joking. Please, tell me that you’re joking?”

Tony shook his head. “I’m not saying he didn’t do all the stuff before he got here. Like almost destroy a planet, but that’s not our problem. He’s not evil, just…a little…”

“Unstable? Monsterous?” Loki appeared in the kitchen doorway, in a snug green t-shirt that had Oscar the Grouch on it (Tony knew Steve had been trying to make a statement with that) and a pair of jeans. He was still barefoot.

“I was going to say mischievous. There you go again stuffing horrible words in my mouth. Do not make that an innuendo.”

Loki smirked. “Never.”

Pepper groaned. “No. I will not put up with two of you. One of you will learn to be mostly polite…or at least hide…that…better, when I’m around.”

Loki looked at her distastefully. “What is that exactly?”

“This snarky weird flirting thing you two do. Tony does it to everyone and only about twenty-five percent of people recognize it for what it is. The other seventy-five percent think he’s just a dick. Which he is, but that’s beside the point. If you are going to…wordfuck…each other. Don’t do it while I’m here.”

Tony gaped at her. “Pepper Potts! Bite your tongue! You used the F word!”

Pepper glowered at him. “I am capable, Mr. Stark. I just have a modicum of self-control.”

Tony smirked. “Fuck self-control.”

Loki rolled his eyes on the other man’s childishness. “Is there anything you would have me do today?”

Pepper frowned. “Yes, Tony. What is on the agenda for today?”

Tony raised an eyebrow and widened his eyes at her. “Really, Pep? You have work, as usual. I’m going up to the workshop. I have notes and research to synthesize. I also have to go over the Kang information that Bruce dropped off.”

“What of me?” Loki was glancing back and forth between the two.

“You can do whatever you want to do. There should be a car available, if you want. Just bring it back relatively unscathed. There’s the TV. I would just avoid the other Avengers. It’ll make the shock of finding out that Liam is Loki a little easier to swallow.”

Loki stiffened. “You are going to tell them, then?”

Tony absentmindedly picked up a screwdriver that was sitting on the counter and twirled it. He shrugged. “Yeah. When I prove that you are as innocent as Clint was, I’ll let them know and I’ll make sure they stay away, unless you want to see them. Especially Clint. He holds a grudge.”

Loki felt a shudder pass down his spine. Innocence. “Tony, I’m not sure you understand what you are proposing to do.”

Tony looked up sharply. Loki looked extremely uncomfortable. His face was pale and he shifted from foot to foot. 

Pepper stood and left quietly, with a wave to Tony that went unnoticed. She grinned. If Loki was innocent and he sure didn’t seem anything like the guy in the videos she’d seen), Tony was fall fast and hard and she was sure that he had not a single clue. She knew he recognized his attraction to Loki and the sympathy, but Pepper knew Tony better than Tony knew himself. All the signs were there. The ones that, in hindsight, had never been in their relationship. She sighed and let the elevator doors close behind her.

Tony shook his head, still examining Loki. “Yes, I understand exactly what I’m doing. I’m clearing your name on Earth so that you have a safe place to be. Asgard wants to punish you for things that you had no control over. The things you did yourself, with Jotunheim and trying to kill Thor…not that I blame you for that last one…Those things are not ours to deal with. And Honestly? I think probably Odin is at least half to blame for that. He seems like a shitty father to me.”

Loki was startled into a laugh. “Hmm. The Allfather is not the most…loving or equitable of parents.”

Tony snorted. “That’s the understatement of the century. I’d like sometime to hear your side of that story. I’ve heard Thor’s, which was biased in the extreme and missing everything of what happened to you when he was here.”

Loki watched him carefully for several moments in silence. Tony stayed still and met his gaze. “I think perhaps, one day, you shall.” He blinked and shook his head, a small smile curling at the edges of his mouth. “Do you truly mean I am able to go wherever pleases me?”

Tony nodded and stood. “Of course…well, I would suggest staying in the US…or actually New York State. Without magic, going outside the US would probably take longer than you want it to. But if you really want to go to some other country, I’ll see if I can snag you one of my jets. Otherwise, free reign…er. Bad choice of words. Yeah, go wherever. I’ll be upstairs.”

Loki narrowed his eyes. “And If I wish to go with you and watch what you are doing?”

Tony shrugged, scooping up the folder Bruce had left. “Sure. If that’s what you want to do. I can teach you how to use a computer, if you want, while I work on this data.”

Loki nodded. “No, thank you. I think I shall stay here and explore the television. I have seen them before, but I did not have time to discover what they do.”

Tony laughed. “They show you pictures and videos and things. But yeah, enjoy. I’ll be two flights up if you needs me. Remember to stay Liam if anybody comes up. Just for another couple days. Steve gets back on Friday and we’ve a meeting scheduled for then, so I’ll drop my bomb on them during that. Until than, it’s safer for you to be Liam.”

Loki nodded, a funny look in his eye and went to sit gracefully on the sofa, because he never did anything without elegance and Tony wasn’t jealous of that at all. Not a bit. Nope.

With a quiet chuckle at his own thoughts, Tony went back up to his workshop.


	11. Chapter 11

The synthesis of his notes took no more then a couple hours and imputing the new information on Kang took even less time, so in reality Tony should have emerged from his workshop around dinnertime. This is Tony, however. When he stood to leave the first time, he glanced down at the blueprints for his newest suit, the Mach 8. He sat back down and the following morning, Loki appeared in his doorway with a deep frown on his face. 

Tony was on the floor, covered in engine grease, lubrication fluid, and something else that Loki couldn’t identify, but that look suspiciously like scorch marks. He had his head stuck under the belly of a soapbox car and there was a welder’s blowtorch in one and the other reach blindly for something his robot wasn’t quite handing him. Loki had wondered if Tony was hiding up here, because he did not want to be in Loki’s company, but now he thought perhaps the engineer had gotten distracted. 

“Tony?”

Tony jerked and whacked his head on the underside of the small vehicle. “Fuck. Ow…”

Loki came forward hurriedly. “Are you well? I did not mean to startle you.”

The engineer pushed himself out from his workspot and looked up at Loki, a little bleary and not entirely focused. “Huh? Oh, hullo, Loki. Did I miss dinner?”

Both of Loki’s eyebrows scurried toward his hairline. “Dinner? Tony, it’s seven in the morning. Have you been working all night?”

Tony blinked. “Damn. I meant to take you out somewhere again, but the blueprints for the…” He babbled on about his Iron Man suit and Loki did not understand a word he said. After a bit he seemed to realize this. “Oops. Sorry. Next time I do that tell me to shut up. Ugh. I feel gross. I should go shower. Did you want to go to breakfast somewhere?”

Loki blinked. “Alright.”

Tony grinned broadly. “Sweet. Cool. I’ll go shower and change and I’ll meet you in the living room in half an hour, yeah?” Loki nodded and turned to exit the workshop. “Loki?” He turned back. “Thanks. For coming up to get me. Most people just leave me here until I realize I haven’t eaten in days or I fall asleep…So, you know. Thanks.”

Loki nodded again and left without saying another word.

Twenty minutes later, Tony entered the living room to find Loki sitting in front of the television watching a cartoon. Tony viciously suppressed a laugh, especially when he caught sight of Loki’s expression. “What are you watching?”

Loki started guiltily. “It appears to be very small drawing versions of you and the Avengers. They are brightly colored. The Hulk is well drawn, but everyone else is very…rounded.”

Tony couldn’t help it. He burst into a fit of laughter that had him collapsing onto the floor. Loki turned to stare at him. “What?”

“That’s Avengerpuffs. It’s a cartoon version of us. It’s horribly disturbing. I can’t believe you’re actually managing to sit through more than a few minutes of it.”

Loki furrowed his brow. “Well, the very small Iron Man puff is very…cute. And I like seeing the Hulk tiny. The last time I saw him…well, he was not tiny.”

Tony climbed to his feet, grinning. “Have you seen LokiPuff, yet? He’s even got your ridiculous helmet. He rides around on a flying horse with too many legs.”

Loki scowled. “I would never ride on Slepnir’s back! That would be most humiliating for him. Only Odin ever treats him like that.”

Tony frowned. “Slepnir?”

Loki nodded, turning his scowl on the television. “Slepnir, my son. He is an eight-legged horse.”

Tony gaped. “That myth is true? You gave birth to an eight-legged horse?”

Loki stopped scowling and turned amused eyes on Tony. “Well, I was a mare at the time. Shape-shifter, remember?”

Tony gaped some more. “You can change your gender?”

Loki nodded, looking quite smug. “Have you never heard of Lady Loki? No? I am not in the myths like that? Well, then. Maybe sometime I will introduce you.”

Tony gaped some more and then blinked. “You sound like you have dissociative identity disorder. Though in this case, I think it might be warranted. Let’s breakfast, shall we?”

Tony held out a hand to Loki, who eyed it suspiciously before grasping it in his own. He looked skeptical, but shifted into Liam anyway. Tony dragged him to the elevators. When the doors opened again into the Avengers’ lounge, Tony tugged him out and almost ran headlong into Clint. The archer’s lip curled into a smirk and his eyes ran over the two men, resting briefly on their joined hands. “Well, well, well. If this isn’t a surprise, I don’t know what is. Tony Stark double dipping.”

Tony scowled. “Piss of, Barton. Just because I won’t fuck your sorry ass, doesn’t mean you get to comment on my sex life.”

Clint snorted. “As if I’d let you touch me, you skank. Who’s the boy-toy, that I definitely recognize from the news footage?”

“Clint, Liam. Liam, this is the world’s biggest asshole. Sometimes known as Hawkeye, but only on the rare occasion when he’s being useful.”

Loki reached out his free hand to shake Clint’s. Clint eyed him a moment. “You look familiar to me…Eh. Be careful of this fucker. He’s the world’s biggest whore. According to rumor he’s fucked over three hundred women.”

Loki smirked. “Four hundred and seventy five.”

Clint gaped at him for a moment before swinging his gaze back to Tony. “He’s lying, yeah?”

Tony smirked broadly. “Not a bit of it. Just ask Pepper. She’s kept a count.”

Loki’s smirk curled up. “And thirteen men.”

Tony frowned at him sharply. “No, it was…Oh. Oh, well. Yeah. Okay.”

Loki laughed. “Thank you for that. I feel so loved and appreciated.”

Clint snorted. “He forgot to add you in, didn’t he?”

Tony widened his eyes and batted his lashes up at Loki. “What if I say that it wasn’t fucking, it was love making?”

Loki gave a sharp bark of laughter. “I’ll gently point out that you are bullshitting me.”

The puppy dog expression dropped from Tony’s face and he smiled. Clint narrowed his eyes. “Well, if you’re double-dipping here, keep this one around. He’s amusing and he apparently appreciates your…’wit,’ which is a rare, rare thing, my friend.”

Tony flipped off Clint and pulled Loki into the opposite elevator.

 

*******

The breakfast was calm. No paparazzi popping up to interagate them during their meal, but Tony knew that the papers were going to go wild with this tomorrow. He sent off a quick warning text to Pepper.

He spent half the meal flirting with the waitress, until she finally managed to recognize Loki (Liam) and started apologizing profusely. Loki looked at her in confusion.

Tony widened his eyes at the Norse God, in hopes of preventing him from saying anything, then turned a grin on the poor girl. “Hey, babe. It’s fine. My default setting is flirt and I can’t seem to help myself. If Liam minded, he wouldn’t be here right now. Yeah? It’s fine. I promise. Isn’t it, darling?”

Tony had expected Loki to smirk and make some kind of comment, but he merely nodded and smiled politely at the girl. The girl flushed bright red and stammer out, “You picked a winner, Mr. Stark. He’s certainly handsome enough for you.” Before practically fleeing back inside the restaurant proper.

Tony raised his brow at her retreating back, then turned back to Loki. “I was expecting you to snark at her, if I’m honest.”

Loki looked up from his food and frowned. “Why? I have no control over with who you flirt.”

Tony frowned sternly, or as sternly as he could manage. “Liam, you’re…well…I actually don’t know, but people seem to think you’re my boyfriend and as such, you have every right to make comments on who I flirt with.”

“I did not want to…what’s the word? Cockblock you, should you desire to fuck her.”

“Liam!” Tony was…for lack of a better word…scandalized. “Please tell me that my reputation isn’t so bad that you actually believe that if I were with you I would even want to fuck her or anyone else?”

Loki frowned at him and put down his fork. “Tony, it has nothing to do with your reputation. I merely understand the way in which my relationships work.”

“Are you telling me you’ve never been in an exclusive relationship…a monogamous one?” Tony could literally not believe what he was hearing. 

“I do not cheat on my partners.” Loki’s tone was careful and his face blank.

Tony heard what he was not saying. “But your partners cheat on you? Why?”

Now, Loki looked confused, instead of wary. “Are you jesting again? Because it is not amusing. Why should be obvious.”

Tony gaped. “Are you joking me? It is not obvious to me. You’re funny, incredibly intelligent, fun to be around. You’re a great cook, a talented…er…magician, or whatever you call it. I imagine you’re dynamite in the sack. You’re beautiful. How is it obvious?”

Loki’s eyes widened. “I…Um…what?”

“Loki…” Tony’s eyes were tragic. Loki was confused. “What did they do to you?”

“Tony, you are not making sense. Who are you talking about?”

Tony shook his head. “Loki…” There was a pause. “Look, are you finished with your breakfast?”

Loki nodded, still frowning. “Tony—“

Tony stood, cutting off his words. He pulled out his wallet and threw several large bills onto the table. “Come on. We have a conversation we need to have.”

Loki stood and followed Tony back to the car. The trip back to the Tower and the elevator ride up to Tony’s rooms were silent. When they entered the living room, Tony was relieved to see it empty. He gestured for Loki to sit on the couch. “Jarvis?”

“Yes, sir.” 

“Lock down, please? I don’t want to be disturbed. If Pepper tries to come up, tell her that I’m trying to get to the bottom of something.”

“Certainly, sir.”

Tony took the seat across from Loki. Loki was looked extremely wary. “Loki, I don’t…I honestly don’t understand why you do not see yourself properly. You’re a beautiful man…and I’m sure you make a beautiful woman too…Okay, not on point. You have worth, though you seem not to believe that, which is something I don’t understand.”

“Tony, I am Jotun. I am a Frost Giant runt. Of course, I do not have worth. I am a monster.”

Tony dropped his head into his hands. “No, Loki, you are not. You’re not a monster. The Frost Giants aren’t monsters either. They’re just from a planet different from where you grew up. You were raised, very poorly by the way, Odin is a shit father, but you were raised to believe that they are, but it doesn’t make it true. You were raised to believe you aren’t as good as Thor. That isn’t true either. Loki, what can I do to convince you that you’re worth it? That you have value.”

Loki looked away, refusing to meet the engineer’s eyes. 

“Loki…Look at me!” The god’s eyes jerked up at the desperate tone in Tony’s voice. “Look, I understand some of what you’re going through…I…” He stood and started pacing, his arms wrapped around his middle. “I wasn’t…I was never…Look, my father didn’t like me, when I…well, ever actually. It wasn’t that he actively disliked me, that would take too much effort. He really just didn’t care. He had better things to do with his time than spend it with me. I tried everything I could to make him proud of me. I graduated as valedictorian at MIT when I was seventeen. I built my first car engine at five. Everything he could possibly think was worth something. But none of it worked. I couldn’t understand why when I was very small. But after a while I realized it wasn’t anything wrong with Howard Stark. It was something wrong with me. I wasn’t good enough. I wasn’t smart enough. I wasn’t anything enough to please my father. I brought home a girl to meet him when I was fifteen, a freshman in college. When she left, he asked me why I couldn’t seem to attract any smart or pretty ones. When I realized that I was at fault and that I would never be able to make him proud, I decided I’d make him angry instead. At least that would be an emotion. It would mean he was looking at me. I slept my way through the prettiest girls of my graduating class and the class above and below me. I’m a whore. I get it. It pissed off my father. I’m an alcoholic and I used to have a bad drug problem. I was self-destructive, self-abusive. You name it and I’ve probably done it. I hated myself and I made sure everyone around me hated me too. I got lucky with Pepper. She saw through my crap, but she was the only one. Until…until the kidnapping. I met a man when I was there, named Yinsen. He believed that I could be…more. That I could be good. That I could make my life and my intellect mean something. He gave his life to see that I did. He taught me that I had value, beyond making things blow up…and talking computers. Sorry, Jarvis.”

“It’s fine, sir.”

“He taught me to see myself as I could be, instead of the way I thought my father saw me. You need to see yourself as you can be. The way I see you. Not the way the Asgardians see you, or Thor, or Odin. You have such potential for wonder and it’s a crime that you think you aren’t worth anything. What you did on Asgard and with Jotunhiem. I understand that. You did it for Odin, so he would see you as a worthy son and then you found out you were something that you’d been taught to hate. I’m not saying it was right, because let’s face it, not a good life choice. But I am saying that I understand why you did it.”

Loki’s face, which had been carefully blank for much of Tony’s little speech, cracked. He turned sharply away, but Tony snagged his chin and refused to allow him to hide. There were tears in Loki’s eyes, which shocked Tony to the core. “Loki…drop the glamour. Let me see you as you are.”

Pain and betrayal flairs in the green depths of his eyes, before they turned red. He did as Tony as and the transformation was almost instantaneous. Tony noted this with satisfaction. He assumed that meant Loki’s magic was returning quickly. He ran his eyes over Loki’s blue skin and then raised them back to meet Loki’s. He smiled, a soft private smile, and took Loki’s face in his hands. The engineer ignored the temperature of the skin under his hands, which was at least ten degrees colder than human skin if not more. Loki flinched at the touch, then subsided into stillness. Tony leaned forward, gently pressing his mouth to Loki’s blue lips. Loki jerked back, but Tony refused to let him go. It took several long minutes before Loki truly seemed to register the gentle press of Tony’s mouth on his. When he did, he went limp and Tony could feel that the tears had spilled over. He decided right there that he was going to find some way to overcome the coldness that was making his own skin go numb. Finally, Tony pulled back to look at the Norse god. 

Loki’s voice was hoarse and shattered. “No one has ever kissed me when I was like this. No one has ever even touched me in this skin. Who are you, Tony Stark? Why are you doing this?”

Tony laughed, softly. There was wonder in Loki’s red eyes. “I’m just someone who can see passed the strangeness to the beauty underneath. Yes, it’s…unusual that you have blue skin and red eyes, but that doesn’t make it ugly. I happened to like blue. And red. Red is a very nice color.” He winked and shot a look at his suit where it stood in the corner.

Loki followed his gaze and noticed the color of the suit. He stared for a moment before dissolving into slightly hysterical laughter.

“All joking aside, Loki, I find you attractive in all three of the skins I’ve seen you in. Though perhaps, this one is the most attractive to me. Probably, in part, because it lacks pretense. This is merely you, as you are. Though your Asgardian appearance is impossibly, criminally sexy.”

Loki blinked and furrowed his brow. “This again? Thor is the attractive brother, not I.”

Tony snorted. “Yeah, if you like big and stupid. I don’t. Also, he’s hot in an Gaston kind of way, but no one ever like Gaston. You’ve definitely got a…hmmm. It's like Prince Eric and Shan-Yu had a child. If this were Harry Potter, you’d be in Slytherin. And everyone knows the hottest boys are in Slytherin.”

“Tony, I do not have any idea of what you speak.”

Tony blinked. “Oh. Um…those are all movies and books and things. What I mean is that Thor is a big bruiser type. He’s…all muscles and blond hair. Which is fine, if that weren’t all he was. Anyway, whipcord has always been more my style. I like men who are lean and tall. And you, sir, are both of those things. You’re like a panther. You move with elegance and you…God, Loki, you’re breathtaking. I can’t even…”

Loki looked like he might be wavering. Tony smiled widely at him. “I think you are incredibly hot, but there is an edge of danger to you, like the knowledge that you could snap me in half with a flick of your wrist, that is just…unggh.” He literally dissolved into incoherence, as he watched Loki’s expression shift into something between understanding and acceptance.

“You are an adrenaline addict, Tony. It is the danger that makes me attractive to you.”

Tony shook his head. “No. I would be attracted to you anyway, but I think the danger is part of what makes it difficult for me to concrete on anything, but you whenever you’re near me. It’s…part of what makes me think about you constantly. It’s part of what made me dream about you when you were in Thor’s custody.”

Loki gasped. Literally gasped. Tony didn’t think he’d ever heard that noise from his mouth before. “You…I…before?”

“Verb, darling. You need verbs.”

Loki attempted to scowl, but it didn’t quite overcome the shock on his face. “Stark, are you trying to tell me that you were attracted to me before I appeared in your workshop? Before…I…”

Tony raised an eyebrow. “Before you started to make nice?” Loki nodded dazedly. “Well, duh. Loki, you are hot. You were hot in that stupid glass cell. By the way, you threatening Natasha like that? Complete turn on. Though, I did google ‘mewling quim.’ That wasn’t very classy.”

Loki blinked, slowly, in an exaggerated manner. “You thought my description of how I was going to make Clint Barton rape and kill Natasha Romanoff was hot.”

Tony shrugged. “Well, yeah. I’m sorry, but hearing you say ‘intimately’ in that tone of voice? Turn on. Also, there was the cocky smile when you turned up here before the battle. Very fucking sexy.”

Loki threw his hands in the air, a gesture of surrender, and sank back into the couch. “Tony Stark, you are both completely insane and sexually deviant.”

Again, Tony shrugged. “Hey, doll. If you can suggest it, I’ve done it, tried it, or had it proposed to me.” Loki raised a skeptical eyebrow. Tony amended that. “As a human. I can’t shape shift and shit, so that doesn’t count.”

“Bondage?”

“Yep.”

“Role play?”

“Obviously.”

“Food play?”

“Yep.”

“Temperature play?”

He nodded.

“Blood play? Knife play? Gun play?”

“Tried it. Too much trust required. Wasn’t comfortable with it.”

“Submissive/Dominant?”

“I Dom’ed. My sub was a…mewling quim? No. that’s not nice at all, but she was a whiny little shit.”

“Bestiality?”

Tony’s lip curled in disgust. “Some dude wanted to stick a gerbil up me, once. That was a total no-go.”

“Humiliation? Exhibitionism? Rape Fantasies?

“Yes to the first and the second, and I turned down the offer of the third. She wanted to be the aggressor.”

“Breath play?”

“Did not enjoy that at all.”

“Dear god. Tony, you are a whore.”

Tony laughed. “You knew this already. But at least, I’m a fun whore.” He smirked. “If you think of anything else, just ask. You left out Sadomasochism, though.”

“And?” Loki leaned forward slightly. Tony made a mental note of his reaction to that one.

“Yep.”

“From which perspective?”

“Both. I enjoyed both of them to some degree. Depends on the partner.”


	12. Chapter 12

Loki looked caught between intrigue and shellshock. Tony chuckled. Maybe we should watch a movie or something. Let you assimilate all that, yeah?” I’ll bring up Beauty and the Beast so you can understand my Gaston reference. How’s that sound?”

Loki nodded, though he didn’t seem to be paying attention. He toed off his shoes and curled against the side of the couch. Tony removed his own shoes and slouched in his chair. “Jarvis? You can lift the lockdown. I imagine Pepper’s lurking somewhere, waiting to yell at me for the media snafu I caused. Also, find Beauty and the Beast, would you?”

“Of course, sir. Ms. Potts is entering the elevator now. She seems most put-out. The movie will begin in ten minutes.”

“Thanks, Jarv. You’re the best.”

“Of course, I am, sir.”

Tony laughed as the elevator binged. Pepper stepped out. “Tony. Advance warning. Not a text message five minutes before the firestorm.”

He snorted. “Sorry, Pep. I did warn you though.”

She sighed and sat down on the couch opposite Loki. “Jarvis, turn on the news will you? Thanks.”

Tony raise eyebrow and opened his mouth to speak.

“-ionaire Tony Stark, who came out of the closet, so to speak earlier this week, was spotted with the same man. Yes, you heard me right, Ladies and gentlemen, the same man breakfasting this morning. The media has been abuzz for the past several days with the revelation that Anthony Stark, son of reknown weapon’s manufacturer Howard Stark, clean energy guru, and Iron Man, was in fact bisexual. Personally, I don’t see this as much of a surprise, given Stark’s rather well known reputation for falling into bed with anyone, but this second date certainly is. In the entire time Stark has been in the public eye, he has not once been seen to be on a second date. He does not return to a previous partner. And yet,” The man’s smug face disappeared and a grainy photo of Tony and Loki at the dinner this morning flashed on the screen. “He’s been seen in the company of this mysterious man, who goes by Liam, though we know nothing else about him, twice now.” The picture changed to one of Loki wrapped around Tony from behind, for their first dinner out. “Who is the man who seems to have one Tony Stark’s fickle heart? We’ll just have to see.”

Tony was rigid in his seat. Loki cast a wary eye on him and even Pepper looked wary. His voice when he spoke was flat. “Sue that news station.”

Pepper frowned. “What?”

“Sue them. Or whatever. That was offensive and discriminatory. I refuse to let someone speak of bisexuality like that, especially if its in regards to me. No, better yet. Call a press conference. For Saturday. I’ll present the information I have to the Avengers on Friday and to the rest of the world on Saturday. They’ll ask me about it and I can yell at them all then. But still, take some kind of legal action. I don’t care.”

Pepper’s expression was an odd mix of frown, scowl, and confusion. “Tony, they won’t let you—“

“They have no control over what I do. None of my notes are classified S.H.I.E.L.D. data. I haven’t even given them to S.H.I.E.L.D. yet. So Nick Fury can suck it. I’ll release my finding on Saturday. Loki…I’m not sure if it’s a good idea for us to reveal who you are, if you even want to. If we were to wait…say a month or two, it wouldn’t look like you had any sway over the findings. Especially, if for example, we hinted that after the release you were let out of some Asgardian prison and contacted me to do further research into it, since you felt the residual effects of the scepter. That’s make it clear that you were the wronged party, not responsible for the Chitauri invasion, and that you want to help. It might also be a good PR move if you, for example, helped in some obvious way. Then you could move around New York and the rest of the world without having to constantly look over your shoulder or be in disguise.”

Loki was gaping at him again. “You want people to know about…” he waved his hand vaguely between them. “Whatever this is.”

Tony rolled his eyes. “Loki, value. Worth. Beauty. You have them. I would not be ashamed to be your friend and I would not be ashamed to be your…er…lover sounds so pretentious. Boyfriend sounds childish and fuck-toy sounds…fun, but empty. Hm…partner. That’ll have to do. Whatever.”

Pepper was gaping at him now. “Okay, who are you and what have you done with Tony Stark?” Tony flipped her off with a smile. “Ah. Alright, it is you somewhere in there.”

“I’m serious, Pepper.”

She shook her head, eyes wide. “Oh, I can see that, Tony. You care about him. That much is certainly obvious.” Loki turned wide, terrified eyes on Tony. Tony thought that Loki was allowing himself to be way more vulnerable than he was probably comfortable with, so he grinned and winked. Loki smiled and relaxed a bit. “And Loki clearly cares about you as well. You’ve both got issues the size of China to work through, but you seem to make a good team. Tony, you look like you’ve gotten more sleep in the past few days than I think you’ve probably gotten in the past few weeks. You’ve also eaten at least three or four times in the past couple days. That alone would have me all for this relationship.”

“Tony does not eat or sleep regularly? Skipping meals and working through the night? These are normal things for him?” Pepper nodded at Loki’s question. “That is unacceptable. Tony, you work yourself to death and starve?”

Tony looked annoyed, but his inner fanboy was squeeing that Loki did not deny caring for him. “Hey, it’s no big deal. I eaten when I have to and I sleep when I can’t stay awake.”

Loki looked outraged. In any other circumstance, Tony would have laughed, but the outrage was directed at him. “No. If I continue to stay here and if you wish to…do whatever it is we re doing, then you will take care of yourself. It is selfish not to do so.”

“I…What?” How was it selfish?

“You behave erratically and it causes other people to worry about you. If you are eating enough and often enough. If you are sleeping enough. Lack of sleep causes health problems. Even I know this.”

Tony gaped at him. He turned to look at Pepper, who was regarding him like he was a particularly slow child. A look he didn’t remember ever receiving before. “He’s right, you know, Tony. You behave like a teenager.”

Shaking his head, Tony waved them off. “Whatever. Fine. More sleep. More food.” He paused and smirked, as a thought occurred. “I guess, Loki, you’ll just have to make sure I stay in bed long enough to get some sleep then.”

Loki’s mouth curled into a lascivious smirk. Pepper choked. “Dear god, that smile. It’s indecent.” She fanned herself and Loki laughed in a way that was almost a giggle. His tongue pressed out even with his teeth. 

Tony was entranced. He blinked and shook his head to clear it of the images the sight produced. “Right. So, we’re going to watch Beauty and the Beast.”

Pepper’s eyebrows rose. “Why?”

“Because Gaston is Thor.”

Her face was blank for a moment before her eyes widened and laughter seemed to pull itself out of her mouth without her permission. “Dear lord. He is!”

Tony made a shooing motion and she left, chuckling. Before she got into the elevator, she turned around. “I’m not coming in tomorrow, yeah? It’s my birthday.”

Tony wanted to smack his head against the wall, until he remembered that he actually picked out a gift for her this time. “HAH! I knew that! And I got you a gift!”

She rolled her eyes. “Yes, Tony. I used the—“

“No! I mean I went and got you a gift somewhere…Where did I put it…I hide it so…Jarvis?”

“It is in the breadbox, sir.”

“Thanks!” Tony leapt to his feet and went to get the little box out of the breadbox. He came over and handed it to her.

With a slight frown, she opened the present. Inside the jewelry box was a pendant. It looked like the arc reactor that she’d helped him replace and then had framed. It was made of diamonds, both white and blue, set into platinum by the heft of it. She turned it over and on the back was an inscription. “For the woman who showed Tony Stark that he has a heart.”  
She choked. “Oh, Tony!”

She clutched it tighly and flung her arms around him. He hugged her a little awkwardly and sent Loki a distinctly ‘deer-in-the-headlights’ look over her shoulder. “Tony, I do love you and I always will. I’m happy that you’re happy now. Thank you for this. I think this might be the most thoughtful gift I’ve ever gotten in my life.”

He smiled gently at her, when she pulled away. “Hey, Pep. Always. You’re the only family I’ve got.”

Her eyes welled up and she whacked him on the arm. “Oh! You made my mascara run!”

He laughed. Loki grinned at them. “Do not worry, Lady Potts. You look beautiful and there is nothing amiss with your make-up.”

Tony’s eyebrows rose and Pepper blushed. “Thanks, Loki. You can call me Pepper if you want.”

“Perhaps.”

She turned back to Tony. 

“Go! Enjoy your birthday. Hopefully, for you, Steve will be back in time.” She flushed deeply and he gave her a cheshire grin. “Stop by Friday. The meeting’s at 1. We’ll see how things shake out.”


	13. Chapter 13

Steve did make it back in time for Pepper’s birthday, but that is entirely another story. More pertinent here, he made the meeting. For the first time ever, Tony was the first person to arrive. He set up the video screen and, when Steve arrived next, had him skype Jane. The two chatted as the just of the group showed up. Tony stowed his briefcase with the duplicate file next to the chair he’d claimed. Fury was the last person to arrive.

“Stark, why are you wasting my time?”

Before Tony could respond, however, The video-feed crackled. “My friends, I have some very dire news.” Thor boomed once it was stable and Jane stepped away. “My brother has escaped his bonds and vanished.”

Tony went from perfectly calm to pissed beyond tolerance in two seconds flat. He spun and sneered at the screen. “So you finally noticed he was gone, did you? What? Send in one of the Fabulous Four to beat him to within an inch of his life? Were they disappointed that their toy was missing?”

Thor frowned deeply. “No. That has not happened. The Lady Sif was sent down with the powder that was developed to help him maintain a healthy body.”

“Oh really?” Tony felt a spark of alarm in the back of his mind, but pushed it away. “Either you are a bald-faced liar, Thor. Or you have no idea what’s happening in your court or even with your inner circle.”

“How dare you imply—“

“Oh, I dare a whole fucking lot, you bastard!”

“Man of Iron, you needs tread softly. You are trying my patience and I am able to snap you in two with ease. You would do well to remember.”

Tony’s eyes narrowed and he look a slow step toward the screen. “If you think I give a shit that you can kill me, you’re sadly mistaken. I fly around in a tin can fighting supervillians, for fuck’s sake. What I do remember is that the day Loki arrive on Asgard, his sentence was passed with no trial and no investigation into his supposed crimes. What I remember is that you, yourself, sewed his mouth shut and bound his magic, with no questions asked. What I remember is that you had him stripped naked and thrown into a cell, where he has not been given anything to eat or drink for five and a half fucking months while your merry band of fuckwits have been literally peeling the skin from his bones and beating him bloody as retribution for supposed wrongs. What I remember is that in all that time you never once went to check on your brother, who you claim to love. I remember that Loki used the last of his magic in a desperate attempt to get free from that hell and could have ended up anywhere, naked and helpless and bleeding. But what I remember most of all. What you had better remember for the rest of your fucking life. Is that Loki is innocent.”

Tony was panting, his fingers digging into the back of the chair that he’d latched onto. Thor looked like he’d been slapped and the room was deadly silent. Even Steve was gaping at him. “Tony, I know you identify with him and I know you’ve grown to like him but—“ He was half-out of his chair, worry deep in his eyes.

Fury cleared his throat. “Stark? I think a little explanation is needed here.”

Tony waved Steve back into his seat. He took a deep breath and blew it out. “I’ve been doing research into that damn scepter since the day you gave it to me, Nick. I called this meeting today, because I finally have the last piece of proof I think I’ll need to convince you. The scepter, as Bruce discovered in the Helicarrier that first day, gives off the same gamma-radiation as the Tesseract. We all saw that it behaves the same way as the Tesseract and, after questioning Dr. Selvig, I know that it connects the mind of anyone controlled by it to the Tesseract. I figured, if that’s true, logically it follows that the scepter must be connected to the Tesseract. If it is connected, which I now know it is, than why could it not behave like the Tesseract, act on its own? I did tests to see the extent of the influence it had on the ones it took under its control, or those the wielder took under its control. I noticed that the scepter seemed also to influence the wielder. So I tested that as well. The scepter has the ability to control its wielder if that is the wish of the Tesseract, and in turn those who hold the Tesseract and know how to use it.

“I reviewed the security footage from the moments before the portal collapsed and destroyed the compound. One of the computers managed to upload it to the server before everything blew. I finally saw what Loki looked like when he arrived. When I was able to watch the footage without being in immediate danger and with the hindsight knowledge of what Loki actually looks like, I noticed something odd.”

Steve was leaning forward. “What’s that, Tony?”

Tony smiled at him tightly. “Jarvis?”

“Right away, sir.”

Thor’s face disappeared and two pictures replaced it. “Thor is seeing this as well and can hear me just fine, the bastard. These are pictures of the two people who we have definite confirmation were under the power of the scepter and therefore the Tesseract. Look at their eyes.” Tony pulled out a laser pointer and indicated the deep circles around Clint’s eyes and then Dr. Selvig’s. He also indicated the blue film that seemed to cover their entire eye, blocking out the iris. “This does not look natural. The circles weren’t there before they were brainwashed and they are not there now. Neither was the odd blue haze. Ergo, they are a result of the Tesseract’s control.” He clicked a button. A picture of Loki, from the security footage appeared. “Look. Same dark circles, which we all know aren’t there normally. And look at his irises. Loki has green eyes, naturally. Here his eyes are the same color as the Tesseract.”

Clint sneered. “Maybe the fucker was tired. Too busy planning world domination. And he is a shape shifter.”

Tony shrugged. “Maybe. But that struck me as odd. Why shift just your eye color? At this point, I’d been studying the scepter for well over a month and a half. If any of you have any idea how long a month and a half is for me to study something, and still have more to learn, just ask Steve about any puzzle he’s ever given me.”

Steve snorted. “Two days at absolutely max. And I’ve only seen one…no, two puzzles you couldn’t solve. One was because it didn’t have a solution, though.”

Tony scowled. “Lewis Carroll is fucking mental. Why is a raven like a writing desk? Really? Whatever.” He shook his head. “Sorry. Not on topic. Anyway, I knew by then that the person, who controlled the Tesseract, either one because there are two of them, could control the scepter, as I said earlier. Well, the Chitauri had one and we had the other. We didn’t know how to use it that way and the Chitauri certainly weren’t going to tell Loki how to do it. As long as he was in contact with the scepter, he was in contact with the Tesseract and therefore under the control of the person holding it. When I was testing this, I noticed that the barer of the scepter could be controlled by the cube, but in a subtler way than when the scepter was used to directly control someone. The barer was affected in a way that it made it impossible for the effected person to realize they were being affected. They could still put people in their thrall, but they in turn were in the thrall of the Tesseract. Loki was under the control of the Chitauri and Thanos, not his own power.”

Tony took a deep breath. “Bruce, Natasha, guys, I’m giving you fair warning. You are not going to be pleased with this next slide. Not in the least bit. Just…remember that you were never in any danger, yeah? And things aren’t always as they seem.” He pressed a button. 

Bruce went chalk white and Natasha was up and out of her chair in a heartbeat. She had her hand around Tony’s neck. “The fuck, Stark?”

“Yeah, that’s Loki. He shifted.” He wheezed. She squeezed harder. Steve stood and pulled her away, wrapping his arms around her and lifting her from the floor. She struggled and kicked, but couldn’t break free of his hold. Tony took a deep, rasping breath. “Loki appeared in my workshop several days ago. I cut the threads that sewed his lips shut and got the story form him. He’d been given some kind of truth potion and couldn’t lie, which I’m sure Thor can confirm. Pepper and Steve will attest to it and I have the security footage too. The second night he was here, almost completely without magic by the way. All he can do is shift at the moment…and dry things. Um…yeah, that second night, he shifted and I took him for food, for the first time in five and a half months. I told him my theory. This is what happened.”

Tony hit play.

It was clear from the angle and from the man’s lack of attention that Loki did not realize there was a camera aimed at him. Tony’s voice was chattering about the Tesseract and the scepter from somewhere above the camera, which was clearly part of his Starkphone. He mentioned Loki’s idiotic announcement and the Norse God’s eyes went blue. Not like blue eyes are blue or even like his eyes were when he first appeared, but in the same way Clint’s eyes had been blue under the Tesseract’s control, all frosted-over with the iris only a faint whisper in the background. His head bobbed forward a little and he jerked once to the left. He didn’t seem to realize he was moving or that anything was amiss. Tony continued to talk in the background.

“Can you feel the difference?” Tony’s voice asked and Loki jerked again. He blinked hard and the blue slowly receded from his eyes, leaving them normal. Literally normal, not the blue of his shift, but the vibrant green they usually were. The God stumbled over his words and thanked Tony for making a difference that he claimed he could feel. 

Tony turned the video off and Thor’s face came back into view. He looked sick. Tony grinned savagely and bowed. “There you have it, Ladies and Gentleman. Proof positive that Loki was not in fact acting under his own power. Like our dear Hawk here, his own personality was multiplied and distilled into what the Tesseract and the Chitauri needed of it and suggestions were whispered into his ear in such a way that he believed them to be his own thoughts. He is no more guilty for the things he did than Clint is.”

Fury looked at him with narrowed eyes. “I’m sensing an and here.”

Tony grinned again, more normally this time. “There is an and, Director. There is also more evidence in my notes for those who are skeptical.” Tony pulled a thick folder out of his briefcase. The folder was four or five inches thick. “This is all the information I complied on the Tesseract and the scepter. All of the information on the scepter, which is more than half what is here, supports my conclusion. Bruce can look it over and confirm, if anyone wants.”

Clint sneered. “We can’t do it ourselves?”

Tony shot him an incredulous look. “Sure, you can. Become an conversant in gamma radiation, astrophysics, and five or ten other fields and then you can look it all over yourselves.”

Natasha snorted. She’d relaxed into the chair Steve had pinned her to during Tony’s video and was not gazing at him sardonically. “You fucker. I ate something that that crazy bastard cooked.”

“Yes, and you’re still alive. As am I. So are Pepper and Bruce. Clearly that says something about Loki’s intent, doesn’t it?”

Fury stood and paced at the end of the room. “This is a bit of a disaster.”

Clint shuddered. “I spoke with that fucker and had no idea. Stark, I fucking hate you.”

Tony flipped him off and watched the rest of them. Steve seemed to accept it at face value, but he’d warmed up to Loki anyway. Bruce never really cared one way or another about Loki to begin with. Tasha seemed to be taking it as well as could be expected. Tony didn’t really care how Clint was taking it. “He’s upstairs in my quarters and he’s agreed to come down an answers questions about anything and everything you could ask him. He swore to answer truthfully or not answer at all. His only stipulation is that Thor is not allowed to speak to him.” Tony turned a vicious smile on the video screen. “If he does, I will cut the feed and call Jane to tell her all about what her lover-boy allowed to happen to his brother.” Thor paled and stayed resolutely silent. “Good boy.”

 

Tony leaned against the wall to watch Fury and the gang take in what he’d said. Natasha leaned forward to talk to Fury and Clint sat up to listen. Bruce pulled the file to himself and started flipping through it. Steve stood and came to stand beside Tony. “Do you think this was a wise move? It seems very sudden.” He shot Tony a significant look.

Tony chuckled softly. “Think back over the course of the past few months, Cap. Think.”

Steve furrowed his brow and his eyes went out of focus. He thought back over the time since Loki had been taken back to Asgard. Each time he recalled Loki coming up in conversation, it was Tony who has mentioned him. Each time there was some discussion or at least the hint of brainwashing. He remembered Tony talking about the power of the scepter. He wasn’t surprised when Tony had said the scepter could control its barer and now he realized that it was because Tony had been talking them all around to this for months, but none of them seemed to realize. Even Clint was taking it much better than anyone should expect. Steve turned wide eyes on Tony. “You…Jeez. You’re a genius.”

Tony grinned. “I’ve been telling you this, Capsicle, for months.”

Steve laughed, full and deep, which caught everyone’s attention. Bruce shut the folder.

Fury glanced at Natasha and Clint, who shrugged. “If you’re done you’re your little lovefest in the corner, Stark, you can bring the bastard in.”

Tony narrowed his eyes at that and his lip curled up. Steve, who had retaken his seat, watched him warily. “One more thing before Loki comes in. I saw him when he appeared. I know exactly what they did to him and how badly fucked up he is. I realize the idea of his innocence is going to take a little time to…acclimatize for some of you. But if one fucking person in this room does a single goddamn thing to mentally or emotionally destabilize Loki, to hit him where it hurts, and I know you all know his hot-buttons. You will answer to me.” His voice was flat and his eyes were blazing. Bruce shifted uncomfortably. 

Natasha looked vaguely impressed. “Didn’t know you had it in you, Tony.”

He leered at her and the tension broke. Fury rolled his eyes. “Yeah, Yeah. Don’t poke your pet with a stick. We get it.”

Tony snapped back to fight mode fast enough to give everyone whiplash. “Do not call him my pet, Director Fury.” Fury’s single eye went wide and he held up both hands. Tony pinned him with a cold stare for another moment. “Jarvis, could you ask Loki to come here please?”

“Sir, he has been…hovering in the hallway for most of the duration of this meeting.”

Tony raised an eyebrow. “Has he? Well, then. Tell him to come in. Thank you, Jarv.” 

The door opened hesitantly and Loki slipped in. He made a beeline for Tony, who offered him a small smile. “You good there, Mulan?”

The entire room turned to gape at Tony, which was exactly why he’d said it. He and Loki’d spent the previous day watching many of the Disney classics. Loki smirked. “I reserve the right to be Scar, if we must assign Disney characters.”

Tony scoffed. “Been there, done that. So yesterday. Today, you’re Mulan.”

Loki raised an eyebrow. “What does that make you?”

“Shang, of course.”

Loki narrowed his eyes appraisingly. “Hm. Methinks not. Perhaps the cricket is a better fit.”

Tony looked affronted. “Well, at least I’m lucky.”

Loki’s mouth curled into a half-smile. “You are certainly that, Mr. Stark.”

Tony leered at him in the lewdest way he could. “I am lucky or I get lucky.”

Loki raised an eyebrow. “I really wouldn’t know.”

Steve sighed. “If you two are quite finished?”

Natasha poked him. “Let the lovers argue. They’re outing themselves as a real couple, instead of a TV couple, and entertaining the rest of us.”

Fury was glaring at them. Tony blinked and turned to look around. Loki was much closer than he realized, leaning invitingly against the wall. “Er…sorry. What?”

Natasha snorted. “You’re fucking Loki.”

Tony blinked. “Actually, I’m not.”

Loki smirked. “Not yet.”

“Point.” Tony smirked back and shot a glance at the video screen where Thor looked positively murderous. It was a glorious thing.

Natasha frowned. Steve frowned. Actually, now that Tony looked, everyone was frowning at him. “What?”

Surprisingly, Bruce spoke up first. “Tony…According to the news you’ve been on two dates so far, which I’ve never seen you do before except with Pepper. He’s obviously been living in your quarters for the past week-ish. You’ve got the whole…banter/foreplay thing going. But you haven’t slept together yet? Are you feeling well?”

Tony flushed a dark red and pinned Bruce with his gaze. “Do you realize how incredibly offensive that question is? I honestly don’t think anyone does. Really. I remember my life. There is no need to throw the fact that I’m a whore in my face again and a-fucking-gain. I get it. I sleep around. I’m dirty and slutty and apparently no one cares to actually stay with me. I know. I was there.” Tony pushed out a sharp breath through his nose. Bruce looked stricken and Steve opened his mouth to say something, but Loki beat him to it.

The Norse god reached out a hand and snagged Tony’s. Tony turned and looked at him, a scowl on his face. “Stark. Value, worth, and beauty. I’m not the only one who’s damaged. You’re looking into a broken mirror too.”

Tony swallowed around the lump that formed in his throat and shrugged helplessly. Loki let go of his hand and smirked. Tony turned back to the room, a little more composed, to see several sets of wide eyes. Fury looked mildly ill and Clint looked like he was going to kill someone.

Natasha actually raised a hand to her mouth and whispered, “Oh!”

Tony rolled his eyes. “God. What now?”

She looked back and forth between the two and shook her head. “Nope. Nothing. Not a single thing. You two are too adorable. All of my questions just got significantly less important.”

Bruce smiled. “Mine too. Tony, I’m really sorry. It’s just…besides Pepper we’ve never seen you in an actual relationship…I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked you that. I don’t think anything like that about you. I really don’t.”

Tony smirked, self-deprecatingly. “Hey, Bruce, babe. I created the reputation, so I know how big of a man-slut I am. It’s fine. I shouldn’t have blown up at you.”

Loki glanced around the room and determinedly stepped forward, closer to Tony. He wrapped his arms around Tony’s waist from behind, like he’d done at the restaurant, glaring at everyone in defiance. “Stark, shut up. I am the only one allowed to say horrible things about you.”

Tony raised an eyebrow and looked at Loki from the corner of his eye. “Is that so? Huh. Tell that to the media.”

Loki smirked, and it edged very close to the smirk he wore in the glass cell. “Don’t worry. I already have. So has Pepper.”

Tony turned sharply in Loki’s arms, forgetting the rest of the Avengers, completely focused on Loki. “What did you do? Loki, what did you do? Am I going to have to major damage control tomorrow? Is Pepper going to kill me? What did you do?”

Loki smirked, but stayed silent. Tony groaned and his head dropped back so he could stare at the ceiling. “Oh god. Pepper is going to kill me. You haven’t figured out how to magic my computer yet, have you?” He glanced down. Loki’s smirk widened. “Fuck. You have. You didn’t create pictures of that journalist and leak them to the media, did you? Or…Oh lord…worst case scenarios…tell me you didn’t dig up or fabricate something terrible about them? You didn’t, right? We’re not going to get sued when they trace it back to my computer, are we?”

The Avengers and Fury all took careful note that the things that Tony was coming up with were all non-violent. They were more mischievous than dangerous. Which made sense in a way, Loki was the God of Mischief.

Loki’s smirk pushed into an all-out grin. “Jarvis assured me that there was no way to trace anything back to your computer or system, whatever that means. And Pepper is not going to kill you. She told me I had a lot of raw talent for computer work.”

Tony actually broke away and dropped to the floor. “You’re conspiring with Jarvis. And Pepper…I’m going to die. I’m doomed. Completely and utterly doomed.” He turned his head and looked at all the now smirking Avengers. “They can write that on my headstone. Loki, Pepper, and Jarvis Conspired. Tony died.”

Steve laughed and Natasha tsked. “You’re going to love every minute of it, Stark. Face it.”

Tony looked up from his spot on the floor to Loki, who was standing over him and smiling. His green eyes were bright and filled with laughter. Tony could see all his teeth in the wideness of his smile. His shoulders were relaxed and his fingers and lips didn’t twitch anymore (something Tony had tried to ignore since the god appeared). Tony smiled at him. “Yes. Yes, I will.”

**Author's Note:**

> You might notice that I've condensed some of the chapters, so overall it's shorter by chapter, but the whole thing is here. I promise!


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